IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for Latvia

Election Profile:

Overview

Results

Of Interest/Links

Sources

Country: Latvia
Official Name: Republic of Latvia
Election Type: Parliamentary
Date: October 7, 2006

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

100 seats in the Parliament (Saeima)

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Vaira VIKE-FREIBERGA *
Head of Government: Prime Minister Aigars KALVITIS
Assembly: Latvia has a unicameral Parliament (Saeima) with 100 seats.

* The President is elected by indirect vote in the Parliament to serve a 4-year term for a maximum of two mandates.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by indirect vote to serve a 4-year term.
In the Parliament (Saeima) 100 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** A threshold of 5% is required in order for a party to enter the parliament.

Main parties in the electoral race:

Party: People's Party (TP)
Leader: Atis SLAKTERIS
Seats won in this election: 23
Seats won in last election: 21
Party: Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS)
Leader: Augusts BRIGMANIS
Seats won in this election: 18
Seats won in last election: 12
Party: New Era Party (JL)
Leader: Karlis SADURSKIS
Seats won in this election: 18
Seats won in last election: 26
Alliance: Harmony Centre (SC)****
Leader: Nils USAKOVS
Seats won in this election: 17
Seats won in last election: N/A
Coalition: First Party of Latvia (LPP) and Latvian Way (LC)*****
Leader: Ainars SLESERS (LPP) and Ivars GODMANIS (LC)
Seats won in this election: 10
Seats won in last election: 10
Party: For Fatherland and Freedom/Latvian National Independence Movement (TB/LNNK)
Leader: Janis STRAUME
Seats won in this election: 8
Seats won in last election: 7
Party: For Human Rights in Unified Latvia (PCTVL)
Leader: Tatjana ZDANOKA, Jakovs PLINERS
Seats won in this election: 6
Seats won in last election: 24
Party: Latvian Social Democratic Workers�€™ Party (LSDSP)
Leader: Guntars JIRGENSONS
Seats won in this election: 0
Seats won in last election: 0
Party: Other Parties
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 0
Seats won in last election: N/A

**** The Harmony Centre (SC) is a political alliance formed in 2005. It includes the National Harmony Party, the Socialist Party of Latvia and the 'New Centre'.
***** The 10 seats won in last election are only seats obtained by the First Party of Latvia (LPP). The Latvian Way (LC) party did not garner enough votes to meet the 5% threshold requirement for representation in parliament.