Riga, June 8 (LETA) - Ainars Slesers' party Latvia First has won the largest number of votes in the municipal elections to the Riga City Council, but the parties Progressives and the National Alliance have also achieved very close results, preliminary election results compiled by the Central Election Commission show.

Counting data from all polling stations, the Latvia First won 18.17 percent of the votes, giving the list 13 out of 60 seats in the Riga City Council.

As many as 16.62 percent of voters supported the Progressives, giving them 11 seats, 14.2 percent voted for the National Alliance, giving it ten seats, and the New Unity, the party of current Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis, won 12.9 percent of voters' support. The New Unity will therefore win nine seats.

The joint list of Sovereign Power and the Union of New Latvians won 12.13 percent of the votes and won eight seats.

Two other political forces have entered the council - the Stability party, supported by 6.94 percent of voters, and the United List, supported by 6.29 percent of voters, which would allow them to win five and four seats respectively.

The other parties, including For Latvia's Development, Harmony, Honor to Serve Riga and the Union of Greens and Farmers, did not get into the Riga City Council.

In total, 60 deputies are to be elected to the Riga City Council.

The turnout in Riga in these elections reached 52.2 percent.

The leader of the Progressives, Viesturs Kleinbergs, has already announced that he will invite the National Alliance, the New Unity and the United List to coalition-building talks. Representatives of these parties have confirmed their readiness to go to such talks and have acknowledged that, with the result achieved, it is the Progressives who have the right of initiative in forming the new coalition.

Kleinbergs stressed that the voters have expressed their opinion in favor of the "national-minded parties" and now these parties have to get down to work and form a united coalition.