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 has rated Latvia as "flawed democracy" in 2017.
Indulis Emsis is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeima, the Latvian parliament from 2006 to 2007. Emsis' political views are described as rather conservative, unusual for members of green parties around the world.
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.
The Constitution of Latvia, ratified on February 15, 1922, contains a provision regarding one of the reserve powers of the President of Latvia to initiate the dissolution of the parliament. According to Article 48-50 of the Constitution,
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 7 October 2006. The governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis and his People's Party, won the election. Kalvitis's government thus became the first to be re-elected since Latvia had regained independence in 1991.
Ingrīda Latimira, formerly Ingrīda Ūdre, is a Latvian politician who belongs to the Latvian Farmers' Union political party.
A presidential election was held in the Latvian Saeima on 31 May 2007. The government candidate Valdis Zatlers defeated Aivars Endziņš.
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.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 6 October 2018.
The National Alliance, officially the National Alliance "All For Latvia!" – "For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK", abbreviated to NA, is a right-wing populist, national-conservative political party in Latvia. With thirteen seats in the Saeima, the National Alliance is the fourth-largest party in the national parliament and the third-largest party in the government. The party is a coalition of conservatives, Latvian ethnonationalists, and economic liberals.
A referendum on whether the Saeima should be dissolved early was held in Latvia on 23 July 2011. President Valdis Zatlers used his parliamentary dissolution power for the first time in the history of Latvia. A "yes/no" vote was held and the referendum passed with 94.3% support.
Andris Bērziņš is a Latvian businessman and politician who was President of Latvia from 2011 to 2015. Bērziņš was the President of Unibanka from 1993 to 2004. He was elected as President by the Saeima on 2 June 2011.
The Reform Party, until April 2012 known as Zatlers' Reform Party, was a centre-right political party in Latvia founded by former President Valdis Zatlers on 23 July 2011. It won 22 seats in the Saeima in the 2011 election.
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.
Gaidis Bērziņš is a Latvian politician, lawyer, and university lecturer in law. He is former Minister for Justice of Latvia and co-chair of the National Alliance, along with Raivis Dzintars.
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 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.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 4 October 2014. The previous elections were held in 2011, but according to the country's constitution, the parliamentary term was reduced to only three years following early elections.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Latvia on 3 June 2015. Raimonds Vējonis of the Green Party was elected President and took office on 8 July. According to the European Green Party, he is the first of their members to become a head of state of a European Union member state.
