Latvia - News Archive

Latvian PM quits as crisis bites

Posted: 02/20/2009
Latvian PM Ivars Godmanis resigns, amid political turmoil triggered by the Baltic state's economic crisis.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Valdis ZATLERS elected president of Latvia

Posted: 05/31/2007
On May 31, Valdis ZATLERS became Latvia's third president since the country obtained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. ZATLERS was elected in parliament with 58 of 98 votes after receiving endorsement from the four parties forming the ruling coalition. These parties are the People's Party, the alliance For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK, the First Party of Latvia / Latvian Way bloc, and the Union of Greens and Farmers.

Source: ElectionGuide

Ruling coalition wins parliamentary elections

Posted: 10/09/2006
Preliminary results of the October 7 election indicate that Latvia's ruling coalition has obtained a tight majority in the country's 100-member Parliament. The victory marks the first time that an incumbent administration has won reelection since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The ruling bloc's 51 seats are distributed among 23 MPs from the People's Party (TP), 18 MPs from the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), and 10 MPs from the First Party of Latvia (LPP) - Latvian Way (LC). The opposition New Era Party (JL) won 18 seats and the recently-formed Harmony Centre (SC) alliance won 17 seats. Voter turnout was 62%, considerably lower than the 71% of the electorate which cast votes in the 2002 election. The Election Commission is expected to release final results within three weeks.

Source: ElectionGuide

Latvia Announces Results for Presidential Elections

Posted: 06/25/2003
On June 20, members of parliament (Saiema) elected incumbent president Vaira VIKE-FREIBERGA for a second term in office. According to the results, about 88 of the 100 members of the Saiema voted in favor of allowing the president to run for another four years.  The remaining votes included 6 votes against a second term, 2 invalid votes and 4 absentees.  President VIKE-FREIBERGA is scheduled to be inaugurated for her second term on July 8.

Source: ElectionGuide

Latvian Parliament Postpones Presidential Elections to June

Posted: 03/10/2003
On March 6, members of the Latvian parliament decided to postpone presidential elections originally scheduled for March 12 to June 2003.  According to parliament members, the decision to postpone the election was deemed unconstitutional, since new presidents must be inaugurated during the first parliamentary session.  However, despite the date change, the ruling coalition still plans to re-elect incumbent President Vaira VIKE-FREIBERGA, whose term ends on July 8.

Source: ElectionGuide

Latvia Announces Preliminary Results for Parliamentary Elections

Posted: 10/07/2002
According to preliminary results, the center right party New Era (JL) won 23.9% of votes, securing 26 seats in the 100-member parliament (Saeima).   Second in line after the New Era party was the For Human Rights in a United Latvia party, who won 18.9% of the votes and 24 seats.  Prime Minister Andris Benzin’s party, Latvia’s Way, failed to obtain 5% of the vote to secure seats within parliament.

Source: ElectionGuide

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