Latvian coalition nears collapse

Repse (l) has been accused of authoritarian leadership

Three of the four parties in Latvia's coalition government have issued a statement calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Einars Repse.

The appeal comes two days after Latvians voted in a referendum to approve entry into the European Union.

Correspondents say the Latvian Government has been strained for months, but the parties agreed not to withdraw before the vote in which they all supported the Yes campaign.

Repse, with the oddities of his personal style and relations with people, is unable to lead the government of the country of Latvia Three parties' statement

The First Party of Latvia, the Alliance of the Greens and Farmers Union, and the Union for the Fatherland and Freedom accused Mr Repse of governing by means of "extortion, threats and lies".

But the prime minister, who leads the fourth party in the coalition, said he had no intention of stepping down.

Mr Repse, a former central banker, led his party to victory in elections last October with promises to stamp out corruption and mismanagement.

But he has been accused by some colleagues of having an authoritarian style of leadership.

Party meeting

"Ten months have shown that Repse, with the oddities of his personal style and relations with people, is unable to lead the government of the country of Latvia," the three parties' statement said.

Mr Repse's party, New Era, is expected to hold a meeting late on Monday to decide whether to back him or save the coalition.

Correspondents say he has strong support within his own party.

Latvia is one of the poorest EU candidate countries but its economy has been growing rapidly over the last five years.

Final results from the referendum on Saturday showed that 67% voted Yes to membership and 32.3% said No.

The landmark decision is the final vote that will pave the way for the European bloc to expand from 15 to 25 members in 2004.

The electoral commission said turnout was 72.53% - higher than at the last parliamentary elections in October 2002.