RIGA: Latvia’s parliament votes for a new president on Wednesday as the small Baltic NATO and eurozone member weighs security concerns amid heightened tensions with Soviet-era master Russia.
Four candidates are in the race, but given Latvia’s indirect presidential voting system and its fractious 100-member parliament, it is unclear whether anyone will win the required 51 votes to replace centrist President Andris Berzins.
Berzins took office in 2011 and is not standing for re-election.
The vagaries of the indirect poll and its secret ballot have prompted thus far fruitless calls for reforms – including allowing voters to choose their head of state …read more
Source: theSun