Latvian Green Party

Latvian Green Party
Latvijas Zaļā partija
AbbreviationLZP
ChairmanEdgars Tavars
FounderOļegs Batarevskis
Founded13 January 1990; 34 years ago (1990-01-13)
HeadquartersSkolas iela 3 (4 stāvs), 401 kab. LV-1010, Riga
Membership (2017)790[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-right
National affiliationUnion of Greens and Farmers (2002–2022)
United Latvian List (2022–)
European affiliationEuropean Greens (2003–2019)
Colours  Green
Saeima
4 / 100
[2]
European Parliament
0 / 8
Mayors
3 / 43
Party flag
Flag of the Latvian Green Party
Website
zp.lv
Part of a series on
Green politics
Sunflower symbol
Core topics
Four pillars
Perspectives
Organizations
Related topics

The Latvian Green Party (Latvian: Latvijas Zaļā partija, LZP) is a green political party in Latvia.[3]

It was founded in 1990. It was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019.[4] It is positioned in the centre[3] and leans towards the centre-right on the political spectrum,[5][6][7] and it supports socially conservative views.[3][8] The party held the world's first prime minister affiliated to a green party with Indulis Emsis who briefly served as Prime Minister of Latvia in 2004; further, the world's first head of state as party member Raimonds Vējonis served as President of Latvia between 2015 and 2019.[7]

History

The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia elected in 1990 contained seven Green delegates. After the Constitution of Latvia was restored, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the election of the 5th Saeima (1993-1995) returned one Green deputy, Anna Seile, on the list of the Latvian National Independence Movement (LNNK). In the 6th Saeima (1995-1998), there were four members: Indulis Emsis, Guntis Eniņš, Jānis Kalviņš and Jānis Rāzna.

From 1993 until 1998, the Greens were part of the governing coalition with Indulis Emsis as Minister of State for Environmental Protection.[7] The LZP contested 1995 general election in an electoral list with the LNNK, but lost its parliamentary representation in the 1998 general election, which it contested in alliance with the Labour Party and Christian Democratic Union.[9]

For the 2002 parliamentary election, the party formed the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) with the Latvian Farmers' Union.[9][7] Three members of the Green party were elected: Indulis Emsis, Arvīds Ulme and Leopolds Ozoliņš. The ZZS joined a four-party center-right coalition government and was represented with three ministers, one of them from the Green party, Minister for the Environment Raimonds Vējonis.

In February 2004, after the breakdown of the four-party government, Indulis Emsis was appointed to form a new government and became the first head of government of a country anywhere in the world from a Green party.[7][10] His minority government was forced to resign in December of the same year.[7] A new coalition government led by the People’s Party took office, in which the party was again represented as part of the ZZS.

For the 2006 parliamentary election, the party won four seats as part of the ZZS.[9] The party remained part of the centre-right coalition government along with the People’s Party, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, and For Fatherland and Freedom. Party chairman and former prime minister Indulis Emsis became Speaker of the Saeima from November 2006 until September 2007, when he resigned amid a criminal corruption investigation.[4][8][11]

Leading politicians of the party have often supported nationalist and socially conservative views,[8][12] leading to its expulsion from the European Green Party on 10 November 2019.[4]

By 2022, however, ZZS was emroiled in internal turmoil, with the Green Party announcing that it sees no way of further cooperation in the framework of ZZS with For Latvia and Ventspils, still led by oligarch Aivars Lembergs. Ultimately, it voted to leave the alliance on 11 June 2022; they were later joined by the Liepāja Party.[13] In May 2022, LZP formed a political alliance for the 2022 Saeima elections together with the Latvian Association of Regions, the Liepāja Party and an upcoming political NGO led by Liepāja construction contractor Uldis Pīlēns, the United List.[14][15]

Election results

Legislative elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
1993 Oļegs Batarevskis 149,347 13.35
(LNNK[a]) 		New
1 / 100
 New 2nd Coalition
1995 60,352 6.35
(NKP-ZP[b]) 		Decrease 7.00
4 / 100
 Increase 3 Decrease 7th Coalition
1998 Valdis Felsbergs 22,018 2.30
(DP-LKDS-ZP[c]) 		Decrease 4.05
0 / 100
 Decrease 4 Decrease 8th Extra-parliamentary
2002 Viesturs Sileniekss 93,759 9.47
(ZZS[d]) 		Increase 7.17
5 / 100
 Increase 5 Increase 5th Coalition
2006 Raimonds Vējonis 151,595 16.81
(ZZS[e]) 		Increase 7.34
4 / 100
 Decrease 1 Increase 2nd Coalition
2010 190,025 20.11
(ZZS[f]) 		Increase 3.30
4 / 100
 Steady 0 Decrease 3rd Coalition
2011 111,957 12.33
(ZZS[g]) 		Decrease 7.78
4 / 100
 Steady 0 Decrease 5th Opposition
2014 Edgars Tavars 178,210 19.66
(ZZS[h]) 		Increase 7.33
4 / 100
 Steady 0 Increase 3rd Coalition
2018 83,675 9.97
(ZZS[i]) 		Decrease 9.69
1 / 100
 Decrease 3 Decrease 6th Opposition
2022 100,631 11.14
(AS[j]) 		Increase 1.17
4 / 100
 Increase 3 Increase 3rd Coalition (2022-2023)
Opposition (2023-)
  1. ^ LNNK list won 15 seats - 1 went to LZP
  2. ^ NKP-ZP list won 8 seats - 4 to NKP - 4 to ZP
  3. ^ DP-LKDS-ZP list won 0 seats
  4. ^ ZZS list won 12 seats - 7 to LZS - 5 to LZP
  5. ^ ZZS list won 18 seats - 12 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 2 to LuV
  6. ^ ZZS list won 22 seats - 13 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 3 to LuV - 2 to LP
  7. ^ ZZS list won 13 seats - 5 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 2 to LuV - 1 to LP
  8. ^ ZZS list won 21 seats - 11 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 3 to LuV - 3 to LP
  9. ^ ZZS list won 11 seats - 5 to LZS - 1 to LZP - 2 to LuV - 3 to LP
  10. ^ AS list won 15 seats - 7 to LRA - 4 to LZP - 1 to LP - 3 independents

European Parliament elections

Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2014[a] Andris Bērziņš 36,637 8.32 (#4)
0 / 8
 New –
2019[b] Dana Reizniece-Ozola 25,252 5.37 (#6)
0 / 8
 Steady 0
2024[c] Reinis Pozņaks 42,551 8.27 (#4)
0 / 9
 Steady 0
  1. ^ The ZZS list won 1 seat, that went to LZS
  2. ^ The ZZS list didn't win any seat
  3. ^ The AS list won 1 seat, that went to an independent

Chairpersons

Three co-chairpersons share the leadership position at any one time. Former chairpersons of the Latvian Green Party include:

As of 2011, chairpersons are Viesturs Silenieks and Raimonds Vējonis.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Latvijā partijās daudzkārt mazāk biedru nekā Lietuvā un Igaunijā. Kāpēc tā?" (in Latvian). LSM.lv. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. ^ https://jauns.lv/raksts/zinas/421333-reiznieces-ozolas-vieta-darbu-saeima-saks-edgars-tavars Reiznieces-Ozolas vietā darbu Saeimā sāks Edgars Tavars
  3. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Latvian Green Party expelled from European Green Party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  5. ^ FIBS Report: Central Eurasia, 1993, p. 107.
  6. ^ Marja Nissinen: Latvia's Transition to a Market Economy: Political Determinants of Economic Reform Policy, London: Palgrave Macmillan 1998, p. 119.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Miranda Schreurs; Elim Papadakis, eds. (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Green Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-5381-1960-0.
  8. ^ a b c Auers, Daunis (May 2012). "The curious case of the Latvian Greens". Environmental Politics. 21 (3): 522–527. doi:10.1080/09644016.2012.671579. ISSN 0964-4016. S2CID 144438163.
  9. ^ a b c David J. Galbreath; Daunis Auers (2010). "Green, Black and Brown: Uncovering Latvia's Environmental Politics". In David J. Galbreath (ed.). Contemporary Environmentalism in the Baltic States: From Phosphate Springs to 'Nordstream'. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-317-96590-9.
  10. ^ Emilie van Haute: Green Parties in Europe, London: Routledge 2016, p. 118.
  11. ^ "Former parliamentary speaker slapped with fine". www.baltictimes.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  12. ^ Emilie van Haute: Green Parties in Europe, London: Routledge 2016, p. 119.
  13. ^ "Latvian Green Party leaves Union of Greens and Parties". Baltic News Network - News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. 2022-06-13. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  14. ^ "Task of LRA, LZP and Liepāja Party is to change Latvia's status as weakest link of Baltic chain - Pīlēns". LETA. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  15. ^ "Piektdien dibinās Pīlēna iniciēto biedrību "Apvienotais Latvijas saraksts"". liepajniekiem.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2022-06-29.