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A referendum on two proposed security laws was held in Latvia on 7 July 2007; the referendum had been called after the president refused to sign the laws, claiming possible influence of oligarchs on Latvia's national security, and after 212,000 signatures had been collected, meeting the requirement of about 150,000 signatures. [1] Although the referendum failed to reach the quorum of 453,730 votes, the results showed massive disapproval of the amendments.
The President of Latvia has the power, as established by the constitution, to request that the Saeima reconsider a law; if the Saeima does not amend the law, then the president must sign it or suspend the law for two months. After this period the law must either be proclaimed or put to a national referendum, if 10% of the electorate request this. [2] President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga deemed the amendments in national security laws to be a threat to national security. As the Saeima did not amend the laws accordingly, the president used her power to suspend the laws. She said that she saw that the laws give employees of organizations granting access to classified information the right to grant such permission to themselves, which could result in certain groups and individuals having the ability to manipulate the information in their own interests. After the suspension, the Saeima did amend the laws as the president had originally requested, and the leaders of the governing coalition claimed that there was no need for a referendum given that the original amendments had already been ruled out and would come into force only for a day. [3] However, this led to calls of citizens to use their right to vote and speculation that the president could dissolve the Saeima. [4] Thus, the referendum was unofficially seen as a referendum over the resignation of Kalvītis' government and as a chance to show support for the popular president, who, coincidentally, left office on the day the referendum took place, rather than as a referendum on the amendments to the security laws.
 | This article needs to be updated.(November 2010) |
Given that the Saeima had already cancelled the laws, if there had been no referendum, after the end of the suspension period the laws would have come into force for one day; the same would happen if a majority voted "Against" repealing the laws. However, if a majority voted "For" repealing the laws, the Saeima would not be able to revive the laws until the end of the current term of the Saeima. Furthermore, there is a requirement that at least half as many votes as in the last Saeima elections must be cast for the referendum to be valid, that is about 450,000 votes.
The referendum did not gain the quorum of 453,730 votes. [5] The results showed massive disapproval of the amendments. [6]
Are you for the repealing of the law “Amendments to the National Security Law” of March 1, 2007?
| For | 326,479 | 96.49% |
| Against | 10,207 | 3.02% |
| Invalid | 1,662 | 0.49 % |
| Total | 338,348 | 100.00 % |
Are you for the repealing of the law “Amendments to the State Security Authorities Law” of March 1, 2007?
| For | 326,189 | 96.41% |
| Against | 10,459 | 3.09% |
| Invalid | 1,694 | 0.50% |
| Total | 338,342 | 100.00 % |
The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Saeima. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Latvia a "flawed democracy" in 2022.
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions, thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.
The Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in October 2022.
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Latvia elects on the national level a legislature. The Saeima has 100 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation with a 5% threshold. An unmodified Sainte-Laguë method is used to allocate seats. The parliamentary elections are held on the first Saturday of October. Locally, Latvia elects municipal councils, consisting of 7 to 60 members, depending on the size of the municipality, also by proportional representation for a four-year term.
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Latvia does not recognize same-sex marriage but same-sex couples are able to register their partnerships with the government through the courts. On 12 November 2020, the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the Latvian Constitution entitles same-sex couples to receive the benefits and protections afforded by Latvian law to married opposite-sex couples, and gave the Saeima until 1 June 2022 to enact a law protecting same-sex couples. In December 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that should the Saeima fail to pass civil union legislation before the 1 June deadline, same-sex couples may apply with a court to have their relationship recognized and enjoy similar rights and benefits to married couples. The Saeima failed to approve such legislation by the deadline, and the first same-sex union was recognized by the Administrative District Court on 30 May.
The Constitution of Latvia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-functioning republican basic law in the world. It was adopted, as it states itself in the text, by the people of Latvia, as represented in the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia, on 15 February 1922 and came into force on 7 November 1922. It was heavily influenced by Germany's Weimar Constitution and the Swiss Federal Constitution. The constitution establishes the main bodies of government ; it consists of 116 articles arranged in eight chapters.
The Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia" was adopted on 4 May 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR in which Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union. The Declaration stated that, although Latvia had de facto lost its independence in 1940, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union, the country had de jure remained a sovereign country as the annexation had been unconstitutional and against the will of the Latvian people. It asserted the priority of the basics of the international law over the national laws and therefore it resolved that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 were illegal. It also asserted that the heavily rigged 1940 elections were illegal and unconstitutional, and that all acts of the People's Saeima chosen at that election–including the request to join the Soviet Union on 21 July 1940–were ipso facto void.
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A constitutional referendum on the "Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia" was held on 18 February 2012. Proposed amendments included Articles 4, 18, 21, 101 and 104 of the Constitution of Latvia by adding the condition about Russian as the second official language, as well as prescribing two working languages — Latvian and Russian — for self-government institutions. The referendum's question was "Do you support the adoption of the Draft Law "Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia" that provides for the Russian language the status of the second official language?".
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This article summarises referendum laws and practice in various countries.
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