2011 Latvian parliamentary election

September 2023 Parliamentary election held in Latvia Latvia 2010 17 September 2011 2014 Jānis Urbanovičs Harmony Centre 29 31 28.62 Valdis Zatlers Zatlers' Reform Party New 22 21.01 Valdis Dombrovskis Unity (Latvia) 33 20 19.00 Raivis Dzintars National Alliance (Latvia) 8 14 14.01 Raimonds Vējonis Union of Greens and Farmers 22 13 12.33 File:Vēlētāju Karte (2011).svg Results by electoral district and municipality Prime Minister Prime Minister after Valdis Dombrovskis Unity (Latvia) Valdis Dombrovskis Unity (Latvia) Early parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 17 September 2011,http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/latvians-sack-parliament-head-early-elections-news-506745 Latvians sack parliament, head to early elections EurActiv 25 July 2011 7 October 2011 26 August 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110826231114/http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/latvians-sack-parliament-head-early-elections-news-506745 dead following the country's first parliamentary dissolution referendum held on 23 July 2011. The previous parliamentary election was only held in October 2010. The elections resulted in Harmony Centre winning the most seats, up two to 31. This was the first time a pro-Russian party had won the most seats in a Latvian election. Unity, previously the largest party, fell to third, with 20 seats, behind the newly formed Zatlers' Reform Party, led by ex-President Valdis Zatlers, who had triggered the dissolution referendum in May. The right-wing National Alliance gained six seats to 14. Both the Union of Greens and Farmers and Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way lost heavily, with the latter falling out of the Saeima altogether. Zatlers and incumbent Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis soon agreed to form a coalition. Needing nine further seats to give them a majority allowed three possible coalitions – with Harmony Centre, the National Alliance, or the Union of Greens and Farmers. The Greens and Farmers were quickly ruled out by Zatlers, who judged it to be an "oligarch's party". After initial talks with the National Alliance, the two briefly discussed a grand coalition with Harmony Centre. However, Zatlers and Unity returned to the National Alliance, and the three signed a coalition agreement on 11 October, with Dombrovskis as Prime Minister. The new government was confirmed by the Saeima on 25 October. A few days before the government formation, six MPs split from Zatlers' Reform Party; they still supported the new government, however.Eglitis Aaron http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-25/latvian-parliament-confirms-new-government-led-by-dombrovskis.html https://archive.today/20120721015358/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-25/latvian-parliament-confirms-new-government-led-by-dombrovskis.html dead 21 July 2012 Latvian Parliament Confirms New Government Led By Dombrovskis Businessweek 25 October 2011 24 December 2013 Background Prior to the elections, a number of changes in Latvia's party system occurred: The Social Democratic Party "Harmony" absorbed Daugavpils City Party.DELFI http://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/daugavpils-partija-ieklaujas-saskana-sc-veidos-divi-speki.d?id=36390563 Daugavpils partija iekļaujas 'Saskaņā'; SC veidos divi spēki – DELFI Delfi.lv 22 January 2011 7 October 2011 The People's Party dissolved itself amid high debts and quickly sinking popularity.Nolemj likvidēt Tautas partiju lv For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All For Latvia! turned their election alliance National Alliance into a joint party.http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/29032/ Latvian political parties undergo major upheaval Baltic Times 12 July 2011 18 July 2011 The New Era Party, Civic Union and Society for Other Politics turned their election alliance Unity into a joint party.Apollo – Ziņas: Izveidota partija «Vienotība» https://web.archive.org/web/20110808090150/http://www.apollo.lv/portal/news/articles/246138 8 August 2011 . Apollo.lv. Retrieved on 19 September 2011. Former president Valdis Zatlers (responsible for the referendum) founded Zatlers' Reform Party, which is enjoying great popularity in election polls. Zatlers' stated goal is to remove the influence of oligarchs on Latvian politics; with the dissolution of the People's Party, the parties Zatlers considers to represent oligarchs are the Union of Greens and Farmers and Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way. Results The Harmony Centre party, led by Nils Ušakovs, finished with about 29% of the vote, followed by Zatlers' Reform Party with 21% and the Unity party with 18%.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14962617 Pro-Russia party wins most votes in Latvia election BBC News Online 18 September 2011 20 September 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110920072820/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14962617 20 September 2011 live The National Alliance and the Union of Greens and Farmers were the only other parties to enter Parliament, with fourteen and twelve percent of the vote, respectively. Harmony Centre's victory was the first for a pro-Russian party since Latvia's independence; the party has ties to United Russia.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/19/latvia-pro-russia-party-tops-poll Pro-Russia party may take power in Latvia if it can form coalition The Guardian 19 September 2011 20 September 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110922134241/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/19/latvia-pro-russia-party-tops-poll 22 September 2011 live File:Lettonie Saeima 2011.svg Harmony Centre 259930 31 +2 Zatlers' Reform Party 190856 22 New Unity 172563 20 −13 National Alliance 127208 14 +6 Union of Greens and Farmers 111957 13 –9 Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way 22131 0 –8 For Human Rights in United Latvia 7109 0 0 Last Party (Latvia) lv Pēdējā partija Last Party 4471 0 0 For a Presidential Republic lv Par prezidentālu republiku 2881 0 0 People's Control 2573 0 0 Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party 2531 0 0 Freedom. Free from Fear, Hate and Anger 2011 0 New Christian Democratic Union 1993 0 0 8255 1542700 0 CVK, CVK, CVK Government formation Despite winning the most seats, Harmony Centre, was unable to come to an agreement to form a coalition that would hold a majority in parliament immediately after the election. Usakovs entered talks with Zatlers Reform Party and Unity following the election with the aim of forming a coalition, though political analysts said that a potential stumbling block in the talks could be the opposition of other parties to Harmony Centre's connection to Latvia's Russian-speaking population. The most likely potential coalition was predicted to be Zatlers' Reform Party, Unity and National Alliance.Maktlösa vinnare i Lettland https://web.archive.org/web/20121019022609/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/maktlos-s-seger-i-lettland 19 October 2012 . Dagens Nyheter. 18 September 2011. Valdis Dombrovskis was believed to remain Prime Minister, despite his party finishing behind the Reform Party. Zatlers stated on 1 October 2011 that he preferred a coalition with Dombrovskis as PM and including Harmony Centre.Andris Straumanis http://latviansonline.com/news/article/7776/ Zatlers wants Dombrovskis as PM in coalition with Unity, Harmony Centre Latviansonline.com 7 October 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20111009013038/http://latviansonline.com/news/article/7776/ 9 October 2011 However, on 10 October 2011, reports indicated a coalition with the National Alliance was all but certain.derStandard.at http://derstandard.at/1317019772093/Rechtsregierung-mit-Ultranationalisten-so-gut-wie-sicher Rechtsregierung mit Ultranationalisten so gut wie sicher – Lettland – derStandard.at › International Derstandard.at 24 December 2013 de Eventually a Unity-Reform Party-National Alliance coalition was formed. References External links Official election results lv Latvia Facing Its Toughest Test Since 1991 In Upcoming Elections Jamestown Institute Latvia https://web.archive.org/web/20120210033219/http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/latvia/ 10 February 2012 NSD: European Election Database Latvia Parliamentary Category:Parliamentary elections in Latvia Latvia