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[ad_1] RIGA: The pro-Kremlin Harmony party won Latvia's general election ahead of populists, final results showed Sunday, but talks on forming a governing coalition looked thorny due to the country's fragmented political scene. Harmony topped Saturday's vote with 19.91 percent of the vote ahead of two populist parties -- KPV LV with 14.06 percent and the New Conservative Party with 13.6 percent. "No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," Harmony chairman and Riga mayor Nils Ushakovs told the LETA agency. Harmony, popular with Latvia's ethnic Russian minority which makes up about a quarter of the country's 1.9 million population, was formerly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and has won the largest number of votes in the last three elections. It never entered government as it failed to attract coalition partners, but the populists suggested before the vote that they may ...

[ad_1] Image copyright Reuters Image caption The governing coalition of Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis has fallen in popularity A pro-Russia party looks to have won the most votes in Latvia following Saturday's general election. An exit poll put the Harmony party on 19.4% with the pro-EU For Development party taking 13.4% and the right-wing National Alliance on 12.6%. Other parties have previously formed coalitions to keep Harmony out of government. However, commentators say it might now be able to form a government if it joins forces with populist parties. "No coalition combination is possible without Harmony that would appear able and stable," Nils Ushakovs, Harmony chairman and mayor of the capital Riga told the Leta news agency. ...