RIGA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The left-wing Harmony party has set out conditions for a new coalition in the Latvian capital city Riga, which has been left without a mayor for more than a month already, public television reported Friday.
The city council's Harmony faction said they would back Olegs Burovs of Honor to Serve Riga (GKR) party for Riga mayor if Harmony member Sandris Bergmanis gets a coveted job on the Freeport of Riga Board.
Harmony also wants Bergmanis and the Harmony faction's chairperson Anna Vladova to be appointed the capital city's vice mayors.
Burovs, who currently serves as acting Riga mayor, said last week that Harmony appears to have reached some compromise agreement with a group of independent councilmen who in late May were kicked out of Harmony for their refusal to support Bergmanis' nomination for vice mayor, which led to the disintegration of the ruling coalition of Harmony and GKR.
Power struggles on Riga City Council have been going on since the end of May when Nils Usakovs resigned as Riga mayor after being elected to the European Parliament. He was briefly replaced by Dainis Turlais of GKR who lost the mayoral job in a no confidence vote on June 20.
At present, there are two official nominees running for Riga mayor - Burovs and opposition candidate Viesturs Zeps. So far, neither candidate has succeeded in securing a clear majority on the city council.
The city council has to elect a new Riga mayor by Aug. 19. If the vote fails to produce a new mayor, the Regional Development Ministry can start a procedure to dissolve the current city council and call a snap election in the Latvian capital.
