Harman Patil (Editor)

Latvian parliamentary election, 2006

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Latvian parliamentary election, 2006

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.

Contents

Conduct

The OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission found that "despite the ongoing naturalization process, the fact that a significant percentage of the adult population of Latvia does not enjoy voting rights represents a continuing democratic deficit". Its recommendations included:

  • allowing independent candidates to stand in elections;
  • giving consideration to granting “non-citizens” of Latvia the right to vote in municipal elections;
  • allowing instructional materials, voter information and other relevant documents to be produced in both Latvian and Russian;
  • clarifying applicability of the Party Financing Law to third-party activities in support of an electoral campaign or during the campaign period;
  • considering terminating candidacy restrictions based on lustration provisions prior to the next Saeima elections.

    • MP J. Boldāns, elected from TB/LNNK, was sentenced by Latgale Regional Court to imprisonment for election fraud. J. Boldāns has appealed.

    A member of "Harmony centre" J. Klementjevs and three employees of his enterprise were fined for buying votes by Zemgale Regional Court.

    The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) found that The People's Party, LPP/LC, Harmony Centre, New Era and UGF had exceeded spending limits.

    Aftermath

    The governing coalition of the People's Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, the New Era Party and Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way received strong support from the voters, with 69 of the 100 MPs. Although this coalition could have continued, a new governing coalition was formed by the People's Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way and For Fatherland and Freedom, ejecting the New Era Party from government.

    References

    Latvian parliamentary election, 2006 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA