Riga, June 9 (LETA) - There are no ideological contradictions among the four parties of the Latvian-minded electorate elected to the Riga City Council - the Progressives, the National Alliance, the New Unity and the United List, said Viesturs Kleinbergs, a candidate of the Progressives for the post of the Riga mayor, in an interview to the Latvian Television.

He stressed that the Progressives had drawn a "bold red line" only against corruption, waste and conflicts of interest, but on other issues the potential coalition forces should be able to find common ground. That is why the Progressives also intends to dedicate a separate day to talks with each of the potential partners, to allow time to discuss as many issues as possible.

Commenting on the concerns that have been voiced publicly on several occasions about possible problems of cooperation between the Progressives and the National Alliance, Kleinbergs reminded that at the beginning of the current term of the Riga City Council the two political forces worked together quite successfully for two and a half years.

In an interview with commercial TV3 television, Kleinbergs said that for the time being he sees no obstacles why the Progressives in the Riga City Council could not cooperate with the National Alliance for the benefit of the citizens of Riga, even if the two political forces have ideological contradictions on certain issues.

The politician implied that issues on which the parties might have different positions do not appear so often on the agenda of the Riga City Council. "The question here is, are we going to talk about things that are important for the citizens of Riga, or are we going to talk about things that create some pretext for someone not to cooperate with someone?" he said.

Asked if he saw any other coalition combinations in the Riga City Council, Kleinbergs answered in the negative.

Kleinbergs did not answer the question whether he would be ready to work in the Riga City Council under another mayor if he does not become one himself, but he repeatedly stressed that the first thing to do is to agree in principle on the work to be done and the goals to be achieved, not on the positions. There was also no point in discussing the number of vice-mayors for the time being.

The Progressives mayoral candidate expressed his conviction that Latvia First party, which had gained the most support in the municipal elections in Riga, would remain in the opposition in the City Council, and he still sees no possibility of cooperating with politicians who are "ready to give up to the east for money or anything else".

Kleinbergs is not afraid of Slesers' promises to build a very strong opposition, because a strong opposition always gives a good motivation to the ruling political forces to work properly.

As reported, negotiations on the formation of the next coalition will start today in Riga, the Progressives' mayoral candidate Viesturs Kleinbergs told LETA earlier.

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.