Latvian govt talks break down after 3 parties pull out

The leader of Latvia’s New Conservative Party abandoned his attempt to form a government on Wednesday after three potential coalition partners pulled out of talks. The president nominated Janis Bordans as prime minister last week and gave him a deadline of November 21 to form a government after October’s vote, which delivered a fragmented parliament of seven parties. “I have told the president that the government that I had intended [to form], is not possible at the moment,” Bordans told Reuters. Bordans had been holding talks with the populist KPV LV, Development/For, the National Alliance and the New Unity parties. All but the KPV LV pulled out of the discussions. The three parties said they left the talks because of a lack of mutual trust. Bordans, whose party won 13.6 percent of the vote in October, had pledged to form a government that would fight corruption and seek to restore the rule of law in the Baltic country of two million.