1.
Latvian parliamentary election, 2014
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Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 4 October 2014. The previous elections were held in 2011, but according to the countrys constitution, on 27 December 2013, the Reform Party announced an electoral pact with its government coalition partner Unity, with most prominent Reform Party candidates running under the Unity campaign. On 16 July 2014 the Latvian Social Democratic Workers Party signed a pact with the Latvian Association of Regions to run under the LAR campaign. Following the elections, a government was formed by Unity, the Union of Greens and Farmers. However, the government resigned on 7 December 2015
2.
House of the Livonian Noble Corporation
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The House of the Livonian Noble Corporation is a historical building in Riga, Latvia, constructed to house the Landtag of the Livonian Noble Corporation in the Governorate of Livonia. It was opened in 1867 and housed the Landtag until Latvian independence in 1919, today it is home to the Saeima, the parliament of Latvia. It is located in UNESCO listed Old Riga, directly opposite St. Jamess Cathedral, the Livonian Noble Corporation was a semi-autonomous fiefdom that administered the area on behalf of the Emperor. The Landtag was not a body, but was rather an aristocratic assembly of Nobles. Construction began in 1863 and was designed by Robert Pflug, a Baltic-German, and Jānis Baumanis, the exterior and interior were finished in Eclectic style. The façade featured a niche containing a statue by Danish sculptor David Jensen of the Teutonic Landmeister Wolter von Plettenberg, after the socialist republic was defeated, the building became the seat of the Constitutional Assembly elected in 1920. On 17 October 1921, the building was destroyed by fire and it was restored according to the design of the architect Eižens Laube. At the time of the restoration the main assembly hall was modified to meet the needs of the Saeima of the new Republic of Latvia. The Saeima chamber today still approximates this design, the last meeting of the Constitutional Assembly, which wrote the Constitution of Latvia took place in the restored building on 3 November 1922. The building served as the home of the Saeima until a self-coup by serving Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis in 1934, Ulmanis assumed the title of President in 1936 and the building served as the centre of his authoritarian régime. Latvia remained under Soviet occupation after the war and the served as the location of the Supreme Council for almost half a century. In the early 1980s one of the courtyards was walled in to expand building space. Since 1993 it is once again home to Latvias parliament, government of Latvia Estonian Knighthood House Parliament of Latvia
3.
Riga
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Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
4.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
5.
Latvian parliamentary election, 2010
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Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on October 2,2010. It was the first parliamentary election to be held in Latvia since the beginning of the crisis during which Latvia had experienced one of the deepest recessions in the world. A total of 1,239 candidates representing 13 parties or alliances stood in five electoral constituencies equivalent to the four regions of Latvia and Riga city. With 1012 of 1013 polling stations counted, results showed an increase in support for the incumbent coalition government of Valdis Dombrovskis, after surviving a vote of no confidence in early February, PM Ivars Godmanis resigned on 20 February 2009 after the two largest parties called for his dismissal. A new government was formed, headed by Valdis Dombrovskis, there were also discussions that President Zatlers might use the parliamentary dissolution power of Latvian President to call a referendum on holding early elections. Zatlers stated he would hold talks with politicians from all parties on 31 March 2009, on 31 March 2009, Zatlers announced he would not dissolve parliament. The Saeima was to consider constitutional amendments as early as 9 April 2009, several changes to the election law took effect for this election. The so-called locomotive law meant that candidates were restricted to standing in one constituency, in addition to completing registration forms in paper format, for the first time, parties also had to register electronically. Voting hours were shortened, with polling stations closing two hours earlier at 8 pm instead of 10 pm, finally laws relating to election spending were tightened, in particular, laws against third party advertising on behalf of political parties were strengthened. – For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK, consisting of For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK, christian Democratic Union In the run-up to the election, three right-wing parties established an alliance called Unity on 6 March 2010. Furthermore, most of the parties constituting the Harmony Centre alliance had merged into the Social Democratic Party Harmony on 10 February 2010, on 22 April 2010, the Peoples Party and the Latvias First Party/Latvian Way formed an electoral alliance called For a Good Latvia. Unity on 28 May 2010 declined to include For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and the far-right All For Latvia. in their alliance, numerous televised debates took place prior to the election. These involved either the party leaders or other party figures. In all, seven took place on the LNT Channel, five of these were held on a regional basis. Like the LNT debates, these involved parties which opinion polls indicated would poll 2% or more, a twelfth debate was held on LTV between the remaining seven parties or electoral lists which were not expected to poll 2%. The two debates held on the PBK Channel involved the four parties which the polls indicated would poll 5% or more. However outgoing Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis refused to part in the debate. Unity decided not to send a replacement and were absent from the debate
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President of Latvia
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The President of Latvia, is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years, before 1997, it was three years. He or she may be elected any number of times, in the event of the vacancy in the office of the President, the Speaker of the Saeima assumes the duties of the President. For example, after the death of Jānis Čakste the Speaker of the Saeima, Pauls Kalniņš, was acting president briefly in 1927, unlike his Estonian counterpart, the Latvian presidents role is not entirely ceremonial. However, he is not as powerful as the President of Lithuania, the official Latvian term Valsts prezidents literally means State President
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Prime Minister of Latvia
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The Prime Minister of Latvia is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, and presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister is nominated by the President of Latvia, the tables below display all Latvian Prime Ministers from both the first period of Latvian independence and since the country regained its independence. From 1990 to 6 July 1993, the office was known as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, a direct translation of the official Latvian term is Minister-President. Although the equivalent is used in some European languages, it is not used conventionally in English, some sources may list Stučka and Niedra as prime ministers for periods when their governments controlled most of Latvia. 2 On 15 May 1934, prime minister Ulmanis dissolved parliament and banned all political parties,3 Puppet leader appointed by Soviet authorities. Not recognized as such by the Latvian government, from 4 May 1990 after adopting the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic. Political Party, LTF LC Independent TB/LNNK TP JL LZP LPP/LC V Lists of office-holders Official list from the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers
8.
European Parliament election, 2014 (Latvia)
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The European Parliament election 2014 in Latvia was the election of the delegation from Latvia to the European Parliament in 2014. At the previous European Parliament election in Latvia in 2009, the country elected 8 MEPs, upon entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty Latvia was awarded 1 additional MEP, again bringing the total number of MEPs representing Latvia to 9. Calculated from the results of the 2009 election, this MEP came from the Civic Union, for this election however, the number of MEPs representing Latvia was again reduced to 8. European Parliament election,2014 Politics of Latvia List of political parties in Latvia Central Election Commission European Parliament Election Law
9.
Open list
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Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a partys candidates are elected. Additionally, an open list system can allow a voter the alternative of voting for the party as a whole without expressing a preference between individuals. There are differences possible between varying open list systems, each giving the voter varying amounts of influence, voters choice is usually called preference vote. A relatively closed open list system is one where a candidate must get a full quota of votes on his or her own to be assured of winning a seat. The total number of seats won by the party minus the number of its candidates that achieved this quota gives the number of unfilled seats and these are then successively allocated to the partys not-yet-elected candidates who were ranked highest on the original list. In a more open list system, the quota for election could be lowered from the above amount and it is then possible that more of a partys candidates achieve this quota than the total seats won by the party. It should therefore be made clear in advance whether list ranking or absolute votes take precedence in that case, in Dutch elections the voter can give his vote to any candidate in a list, the vote for this candidate is called a preference vote. If a candidate has at least 25% of the quota then he/she takes priority over the other candidates who stand higher on the party list. An example, A party list got 5000 votes, if the quota is 1000 votes, then the party wins five seats. Candidates #1, #7 and #4 have each achieved 25% of the quota and they get the first three of the five seats the party has won. The other two seats will be taken by #2 and #3, the two highest remaining positions on the party list and this means that #5 is not elected even though being the fifth on the list and having more preference votes than #2. In practice, at the level only one or two candidates can precede on their lists. This happens more often at the level where the quota is lower. Parties usually allow candidates to ask for votes, but without campaigning negatively against other candidates on the list. In elections in Sweden, the most open list is used, in Slovakia each voter may, in addition to the party, select one to four candidates from the ordered party list. Candidates who are selected by more than 3% of the voters are elected first. For European elections, voters select two candidates and the candidates must have more than 10% of the votes to override the party list. In the European election in 2009 three of Slovakias thirteen MEPs were elected solely by virtue of preference votes and only one was elected solely by virtue of her position on the party list, sometimes, however, people want to express their support for a particular person
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Government of Latvia
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The Government of Latvia is the central government of the Republic of Latvia. Since the early 2000s cabinet meetings in Latvia have been open to the public, in June 2013, the Latvian government became one of the first in Europe to offer live internet broadcasts of cabinet meetings. The incumbent cabinet is the Kučinskis cabinet since 11 February 2016, on 7 December 2015 Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma resigned, which forced negotiations for a new government. The Second Straujuma cabinet served as a government until the new cabinet was sworn in. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia website
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