Kariņš: 'New Unity' election results are devastating

Former Prime Minister and former member of the 'New Unity' (JV) party, Krišjānis Kariņš, told the LETA news agency that the party's preliminary election results are devastating.

According to an exit poll conducted at polling stations, around 6.7% of voters backed JV. By comparison, the party won nearly 19% of the vote in the 2022 Saeima elections. Kariņš noted that the party, which won the previous election, now appears to be back where it stood in 2018, though a clearer picture would only emerge once official results are announced.

Leadership problems and mistakes

Kariņš said several factors likely contributed to the weak outcome, including a conspicuous lack of leadership within the party recently. He suggested that former Prime Minister Evika Siliņa played a significant role in the party's declining ratings over the past three years. He also pointed to a series of tactical missteps, including a delayed switch of the party's prime ministerial candidate to Arvils Ašeradens.

The former premier stressed that the party has failed to resolve internal relationships, leaving it unclear how it will develop going forward and who will lead it.

Other parties' results

Regarding competitors, Kariņš acknowledged that the Union list (Apvienotais saraksts) managed to win over a significant number of voters, which he attributed to the recent change of power and the party gaining a prominent public platform shortly before the vote. He said the preliminary results for other parties were not surprising and matched earlier polling. However, he cautioned that final results could still shift, by larger or smaller margins, from the preliminary figures.