Defeated Latvian president to form own party

After bowing out as Latvian president following a shock election defeat, Valdis Zatlers announced Saturday that he would stay in politics by forming a new party in the Baltic state. The new movement will be called the Reform Party, 56-year-old Zatlers told journalists. "This is not a one-man party, because it is not a party whose main purpose is politics -- it is about people making their voice heard," he told AFP. Zatlers's four-year term as president ended Thursday following a surprising June 2 election result. His successor, banker-turned-lawmaker Andris Berzins, 66, was sworn in Friday. Although Latvia's head of state plays a largely ceremonial and non-partisan role, Zatlers, a former physician, bared his teeth in a campaign for greater transparency in politics. He locked horns with "oligarchs", politician-businessmen with huge clout in the former Soviet-ruled nation of 2.2 million, now a member of the European Union. Latvia's president is chosen by parliament. Zatlers's loss came days after he called an unprecedented referendum to dissolve the chamber elected in October 2010, amid a graft probe. Zatlers said Reform will be a centrist movement, open to all. Its 10-point manifesto calls for "a level playing field for all", a fully independent judiciary and a "healthy economy with strong monetary discipline." In a symbolic move, its founding congress will take place on July 23, the day of the referendum. Zatlers's accountability campaign has struck a chord, with the public expected to vote for dissolution, leading to a new general election in September. Zatlers's decision to create a party is a blow to the centre-right Unity bloc of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, which backed him on June 2 and then made him an unconditional offer to join it and head its election list. Zatlers did not rule out cooperating with Unity. But he said he would not work with the centrist Greens and Farmers Alliance -- a member of Latvia's coalition government, for which Berzins was a lawmaker -- nor the opposition pro-business For A Good Latvia as long as they remained tainted by "oligarchs".