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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.
Guntis Ulmanis is a Latvian politician and the fifth President of Latvia from 1993 to 1999.
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 Miroslavs Mitrofanovs and an alleged Russian agent Tatjana Ždanoka.
Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right Unity party.
Latvia has recognised civil unions since 1 July 2024. On 9 November 2023, the Saeima passed legislation establishing same-sex civil unions conferring similar rights and obligations as marriage with the exception of adoption and inheritance rights. The bill was signed into law by President Edgars Rinkēvičs in January 2024, and took effect on 1 July 2024. This followed a ruling from the Constitutional Court of Latvia on 12 November 2020 that the Latvian Constitution entitles same-sex couples to receive the same 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 2022 deadline, same-sex couples may apply to a court to have their relationship recognized. The Saeima failed to meet this deadline, and the first same-sex union was recognized by the Administrative District Court on 30 May 2022.
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš is a Latvian American politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman 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.
Boris Leonidovich Tsilevitch is a Latvian politician, physicist and mathematician of Jewish descent. He is a member of the Harmony party and a former deputy of the Saeima.
Vjačeslavs Stepaņenko is a Latvian politician and jurist.
Unity is a liberal-conservative political party in Latvia. It is a member of the New Unity alliance and is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum. Since 2017, its chairman of the Main Board has been the former Minister for Economics of Latvia, Arvils Ašeradens, who succeeded former European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
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 a part of the radical right on the political spectrum.
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.
Julija Stepanenko is a Latvian politician and lawyer, serving as a deputy of the Saeima, the parliament of Latvia. Formerly a member of Honor to serve Riga and Law and Order, she is now a member of Sovereign Power, having left Law and Order in June 2021 and Latvia First at 2022.
Movement For! is a liberal political party in Latvia. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum with an emphasis on social liberalism. The party was formed in August 2017. From 2018 to 2022 it was one of the members of the Development/For! alliance, before it de facto dissolved.
The Progressives is a social-democratic and green 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 and one seat in the European Parliament.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 1 October 2022, following the end of the term of the 13th Saeima elected in 2018.
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 Rosļikovs 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.
Andris Morozovs is a Latvian entrepreneur and politician, representing the Harmony party. He served as a member of the 12th Saeima and is currently a member of the Riga City Council.