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.
Latvian Way was a conservative-liberal political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007.
The People's Party was a conservative political party in Latvia. The People's Party was the leader of three governments and a member of another four.
Aigars Kalvītis is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvian gas company Latvijas Gāze. He is the Chairman of the Council of Latvian telecommunications company Tet.
Valdis Dombrovskis is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously served as European Commissioner for Financial Stability,Financial Services and Capital Markets Union from 2016 to 2020 and Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 to 2014.
Valdis Zatlers is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2007 and left office on 7 July 2011 after failing to win reelection for a second term.
Mareks Segliņš is a Latvian politician of People's Party and a lawyer. He is the former Minister of Justice of Latvia,as well as former Minister of the Interior of Latvia.
A constitutional referendum to amend the constitution of Latvia in order to allow one-tenth of the total registered electorate to initiate a popular referendum to dissolve the Latvian parliament was held in Latvia on 2 August 2008.
The 2009 Riga riot was an outbreak of civil unrest in Riga,Latvia,on January 13,2009,lasting for three hours following the economic downturn of the 2008 Latvian financial crisis as well as political discontent with the Latvian government's continued pursuance of austerity policies. Around 10,000 people gathered for anti-government protests which eventually became violent. The riot was the worst outbreak of violence in Latvia since 1991 when Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union.
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.
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.
Māris Riekstiņš is a Latvian politician and diplomat and a former Foreign Minister of Latvia. He is the former Ambassador of Latvia to the Russian Federation. Currently serves as Permanent Representative of Latvia to NATO.
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 first Dombrovskis cabinet was the government of Latvia from 12 March 2009 to 3 November 2010. It was the first government to be led by Valdis Dombrovskis,who was Prime Minister from 2009 until 2014. It took office on 12 March 2009,after the resignation of Ivars Godmanis,succeeding the second Godmanis cabinet,which had lasted from 2007 to 2009. It was replaced by the second Dombrovskis cabinet on 3 November 2010,after the October 2010 election.
The second Godmanis cabinet was the government of Latvia from 20 December 2007 to 12 March 2009. It was the second government to be led by Ivars Godmanis,who was also Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993. It took office on 20 December 2007,after the resignation of Ivars Godmanis,succeeding the second Kalvītis cabinet,which had lasted from 2007 to 2009. It was replaced by the second Dombrovskis cabinet on 3 November 2010,after the October 2010 election.
Laimdota Straujuma is a Latvian economist who was the prime minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as prime minister,she served as the minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was the first woman to serve as the head of government of the country. After her resignation on 7 December 2015,she announced her intention to resume a seat in the Saeima.
Jānis Bordāns is a Latvian politician and lawyer,the Deputy Prime Minister and the former Minister of Justice of the Republic of Latvia from 2019 to 2022,and previously from 2012 to 2014.
Northern Future Forum is an annual,informal meeting of prime ministers,policy innovators,entrepreneurs and business leaders from the 9 nations of Denmark,Estonia,Finland,Iceland,Latvia,Lithuania,Norway,Sweden and the United Kingdom. Initially referred to as the UK Nordic Baltic Summit,the name Northern Future Forum was introduced at the second meeting in Stockholm,2012. The group had a period of abeyance since the Stavanger meeting in 2016 was postponed following the outcome of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum,and David Cameron subsequently stepping down as UK prime minister,to be succeeded by Theresa May. The summit was reconvened in October 2018 in Oslo.
Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis is a Latvian Russian politician and economist,who has previously served as the Minister for Education and Science and as Minister of Economics of Latvia.
The Peitav Synagogue or Peitav-Shul is the only synagogue in Riga to have survived the Holocaust and to be currently active. It is a center of the Latvian Jewish community and recognized by the Latvian government as an architectural monument of national significance.
