The time for submitting candidatures to the presidential post in Latvia has expired. The election is scheduled for May 31. According to Regnum reports, all parliamentary factions – members of the governmental coalition have submitted to the Seimas Presidium a draft resolution on to propose President of Riga Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopaedics Valdis Zatlers’ candidature for the presidential post.

Zatlers is a compromise candidature between the ruling coalition parties, as none of candidatures previously proposed by members of the parliamentary majority was granted support by all partners in the Cabinet of Ministers.

Under the Latvian constitution, the president is elected by a secret ballot at the Seimas with not less than 51 votes “for” from the 100 MPs. The second and the last term of the current president, Vaira Vike-Freiberga expires on July 7. Until now, there were three candidates proposed for the presidential post: head of the prime minister’s bureau, former Latvian Ambassador to the USA, Maris Riekstins (People’s Party by Aigars Kalvitis), Seimas Deputy Chair Karina Petersone (Latvian Party/Latvian Way union), MP, ex-foreign minister Sandra Kalniete (New Era Party).

The compromise decision reached now by the coalition parties (they have 58 seats at the Seimas) guarantees that the general practitioner in traumatic surgery Zatlers will be elected as the country’s president.

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