Latvian presidential election, 2007

Last updated April 17, 2019

A presidential election was held in the Latvian Saeima on 31 May 2007. The government candidate Valdis Zatlers defeated Aivars Endziņš.

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Since its independence, Latvia has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.

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 2018.

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.

Nominations

Candidate	Nominated by	Date of entry	Notes
Sandra Kalniete ^[1]	New Era Party	5 September 2006	Withdrew on 24 May 2007 in favour of Endziņš.^[2]
Māris Riekstiņš ^[3]	People's Party	27 April 2007	Withdrew in favour of Zatlers
Karina Pētersone ^[4]	LPP/LC	12 May 2007	Withdrew in favour of Zatlers
Valdis Zatlers ^[5]	governing coalition (TP, ZZS, LPP/LC, TB/LNNK)	22 May 2007	Won election
Aivars Endziņš ^[6]	Harmony Centre	24 May 2007	Lost election

Before the governing coalition had agreed on Zatlers as a candidate, the People's Party had proposed Māris Riekstiņš and LPP/LC had proposed Karina Pētersone. They subsequently withdrew their candidacies. Similarly, the New Era Party had proposed Sandra Kalniete, who withdrew her candidacy after Harmony Centre nominated Endziņš. For Human Rights in United Latvia did not nominate a candidate, it was announced after election that they supported Endziņš.

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.

Māris Riekstiņš is a Latvian politician and diplomat and a former Foreign Minister of Latvia. He is the current Ambassador of Latvia to the Russian Federation.

The Latvia's First Party was a socially conservative, Christian-democratic right-wing political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvian Way to form Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way in 2007.

Public reaction

Although the powers of the President of Latvia are limited and the office is rather symbolic, 6th president Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, who held office from 1999 to 2007, managed to gain political authority and high popular approval. By Latvian law one cannot be president for more than eight years. Therefore, the previous president could not be re-elected and the election drew significant public attention.

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is a Latvian politician who served as the sixth President of Latvia and the first female President of Latvia. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the second term in 2003.

Notably, the New Era Party announced that its candidate would be Sandra Kalniete, before the Saeima election held in 2006, and used the slogan "Kalniete for president!" in its parliamentary election campaign. As election day drew nearer, a political battle between the two remaining candidates ensued. Zatlers, who is a doctor, was accused of taking money from his patients, which he admitted. This is connected with a set of problems in Latvia's domestic politics: people employed in health care are considered underpaid; patients often give doctors gifts of gratitude, sometimes in the form of money, and some doctors are accused of extortion. Notably, former Health minister Āris Auders had to leave office when one of his patients accused him of fraud. Zatlers was also criticized for lack of experience. Endziņš in turn was criticized for having been a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union before the independence of Latvia was re-established: this caused even more passionate debate when it was discovered that Endziņš had denied the occupation of Latvia in the 1970s.

The New Era Party was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011.

Sandra Kalniete is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in 2004. Since 2009, she has served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the European People's Party.

Endziņš was the most popular candidate among the general public. An opinion poll showed that Endziņš was supported by 54% of Latvians and Zatlers was supported by 29%.

People at the Latvian House of Parliament shouted - "Envelopes! Envelopes!" and "Thief! Thief!", when Zatlers came out after elections.^[7]

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. Designed by architects Robert Pflug and Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, it was opened in 1867 and housed the Landtag until Latvian independence in 1919, and was subsequently damaged by fire in 1921. Today it is home to the Saeima, the parliament of Latvia. It is located in UNESCO listed Old Riga, directly opposite St. James's Cathedral.

Process and Results

Endziņš' supporters hoped that the public support for his candidacy would sway some of members of the parliament from the ruling coalition to vote for Endziņš. This did not come true. Although one of coalition's MPs, Anna Seile voted for Endziņš and another, Karīna Pētersone, voted against both candidates, this was cancelled out by at least 3 opposition MPs voting for Zatlers, disobeying the decision by their party leaders to support Endziņš. There may be situation that at least 6 coalition MPs voted for Endziņš and more opposition MPs from Harmony Centre voted for Zatlers. Valdis Zatlers was elected president.^[8]

Harmony Centre was a social-democratic political alliance in Latvia. It originally consisted of five political parties: the National Harmony Party, the Socialist Party of Latvia, New Centre, the Daugavpils City Party, and the Social Democratic Party. Through a series of mergers they were eventually reduced to two: Social Democratic Party "Harmony" and the Socialist Party.

Candidate	For	Against
Valdis Zatlers	58	40
Aivars Endziņš	39	59

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References

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[1] "Jaunais laiks" izvirza Sandru Kalnieti Valsts prezidenta amatam Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine .

[2] Sandra Kalniete aicina balsot par Aivaru Endziņu Archived 2007-07-20 at the Wayback Machine .

[3] Tautas partija Valsts prezidenta amatam izvirza Māri Riekstiņu

[4] LPP/LC Valsts prezidenta amatam izvirza Karinu Pētersoni

[5] Delfi.lv news article (Latvian)

[6] SC prezidenta amatam izvirza Endziņu

[7] Largest Latvian newspaper Diena: State president will be tax evader Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine . on June 1, 2007.

[8] Zatleru ievēl par Valsts prezidentu Archived 2007-06-02 at the Wayback Machine .