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Events in the year 2018 in Latvia .
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Events in the year 2018 in Latvia .
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.
The Socialist Party of Latvia is a communist party in Latvia. It is positioned on the far-left on the political spectrum.
The Latvian Russian Union (LKS) is a political party in Latvia supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking minorities. The co-chairpersons of the Latvian Russian Union are Miroslav Mitrofanov and Tatjana Ždanoka.
Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right Unity party.
Latvia does not recognize same-sex marriage but same-sex couples are able to register their partnerships with 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.
Ingrīda Latimira, formerly Ingrīda Ūdre, is a Latvian politician who belongs to the Latvian Farmers' Union political party.
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš is an Latvian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Latvia since 2019. A linguist and businessperson by profession, he previously served as Latvia's Minister of Economics and a Member of the European Parliament. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, to parents who had left Latvia during the Soviet occupation, he was active in the American Latvian community throughout his youth.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 2 October 2010. It was the first parliamentary election to be held in Latvia since the beginning of the economic crisis during which Latvia had experienced one of the deepest recessions in the world.
Vjačeslavs Stepaņenko is a Latvian politician and jurist.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 6 October 2018. Following the elections, a coalition government was formed by Who owns the state?, the New Conservative Party, Development/For!, the National Alliance and New Unity. Despite being from the smallest elected party, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš of New Unity was chosen as Prime Minister.
The Social Democratic Party "Harmony", also commonly referred to as Harmony (Saskaņa), is a social-democratic political party in Latvia. It was the largest political party in the Saeima, representing the Russian minority of Latvia, before losing all of its parliamentary seats in the 2022 Latvian parliamentary election. It is currently led by Jānis Urbanovičs.
The National Alliance, officially the National Alliance "All for Latvia!" – "For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK", is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Latvia. A right-wing party, it has also been placed as the far right, or radical right, of the political spectrum. It is economically liberal.
Early parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 17 September 2011, following the country's first parliamentary dissolution referendum held on 23 July 2011. The previous parliamentary election was only held in October 2010.
The New Unity is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia. Its members are Unity and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and liberalism.
United for Latvia is a populist and economically liberal political party in Latvia. It was founded in 2011 in Rēzekne and in 2013 Ainārs Šlesers became party chairman. Šlesers has been dubbed one of the three "oligarchs" prominent in Latvian politics, and United for Latvia marks his return to electoral politics. He was previously leader of Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way and has served in several governments of Latvia including as Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Aigars Kalvītis and Minister of Transport in the second government of Ivars Godmanis, both of whom are party members. Other formerly prominent Latvian politicians who are now party members include Jānis Jurkāns and Jānis Straume. The party is yet to win seats in the Saeima or the European Parliament. Šlesers and several other party members have been in the past among the Latvian politicians most willing to cooperate with Harmony and other Russian parties in Latvia.
The Progressives is a social-democratic political party in Latvia. The party was founded on 25 February 2017. Since 4 September 2021 its leaders have been Antoņina Ņenaševa and Atis Švinka. The Progressives have 11 seats on Riga City Council and 10 seats in the Saeima but do not hold any seats in the European Parliament. The party is currently in opposition to the second Kariņš cabinet.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 1 October 2022, following the end of the term of the 13th Saeima elected in 2018.
Events in the year 2022 in Latvia.
For Stability! is a eurosceptic Latvian political party founded on 26 February 2021. It was founded by former members of the Riga City Council Aleksejs Roslikovs and Valērijs Petrovs. It is a party that advocates Russian minority politics, and it describes itself as centrist on the political spectrum.
Sovereign Power is a populist political party in Latvia, founded on 4 July 2022 by Jūlija Stepaņenko and Ļubova Švecova.