Parliament Of Latvia
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 2022. The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On 28 May 2011 president Valdis Zatlers decided to initiate the dissolution of the Saeima, which was approved in a referendum, and the Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011. The current Speaker of the Saeima is Edvards Smiltēns of the United List party. History and etymology The Saeima traces its origins to the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland, which led to the creation of the Sejm (Sei ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism (two or more chambers). Many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple houses allowed, for example, for a guaranteed representation of different social classes (as in the Parliament of the United Kingdom or the French States-General). Sometimes, as in New Zealand and Denmark, unicameralism comes about through the abolition of one of two bicameral chambers, or, as in Sweden, through the merger of the two chambers into a single one, while in others a second chamber has never existed from the beginning. Rationale for unicameralism and criticism The principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is simpler and there is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''the administration'' or ''the cabinet'' rather than ''the state''. In some countries the title of "Official Opposition" is conferred upon the largest political party sitting in opposition in the legislature, with said party's leader being accorded the title "Leader of the Opposition". In first-past-the-post assemblies, where the tendency to gravitate into two major parties or party groupings operates strongly, ''government'' and ''opposition'' roles can go to the two main groupings serially in alternation. The more proportional a representative system, the greater the likelihood of multiple political parties appearing in the parliamentary debating chamber. Such systems can foster multiple "opposition" parties which may have little in comm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2022 Latvian Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 1 October 2022, following the end of the term of the 13th Saeima elected in 2018. Electoral system The 100 members of the Saeima are elected by open list, proportional representation from five multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 12 to 36 seats and based on the regions of Latvia, with overseas votes included in the Riga constituency. Seats are allocated using the Sainte-Laguë method with a national electoral threshold of 5%. Voters may cast "specific votes" for candidates on the list that they have voted for. This involves drawing a plus sign (+) next to the candidate's names to indicate preference (positive votes), or by crossing out names to indicate dissaproval (negative votes). The number of votes for each candidate is the number of votes cast for the list, plus their number of positive votes, minus their number of negative votes. The candidates with the highest vote totals fill their party's seats. Seat redistribu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Electoral Threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ways, e.g. in party-list proportional representation systems where an electoral threshold requires that a party must receive a specified minimum percentage of votes (e.g. 5%), either nationally or in a particular electoral district, to obtain seats in the legislature. In Single transferable voting the election threshold is called the quota and not only the first choice but also the next-indicated choices are used to determine whether or not a party passes the electoral threshold (and it is possible to be elected under STV even if a candidate does not pass the election threshold). In MMP systems the election threshold determines which parties are eligible for the top-up seats. The effect of an electoral threshold is to d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proportional Representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divisions (political parties) of the electorate. The essence of such systems is that all votes cast - or almost all votes cast - contribute to the result and are actually used to help elect someone—not just a plurality, or a bare majority—and that the system produces mixed, balanced representation reflecting how votes are cast. "Proportional" electoral systems mean proportional to ''vote share'' and ''not'' proportional to population size. For example, the US House of Representatives has 435 districts which are drawn so roughly equal or "proportional" numbers of people live within each district, yet members of the House are elected in first-past-the-post elections: first-past-the-post is ''not'' proportional by vote share. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Open List
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, party officials, or consultants to determine the order of its candidates and gives the general voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on the party list. Additionally, an open list system allows voters to select individuals rather than parties. Different systems give the voter different amounts of influence to change the default ranking. The voter's choice is usually called preference vote; the voters are usually allowed one or more preference votes to the open list candidates. Variants Relatively closed A "relatively closed" open list system is one where a candidate must get a ''full quota'' of votes on their own to be assured of winning a seat. (This quota, broadly speaking, is the total number of votes cast d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honor To Serve Riga
Honor to serve Riga! ( lv, Gods kalpot Rīgai!, GKR) is a municipal political party located in Riga, Latvia. It was created on March 17, 2012 and is led by Andris Ameriks, the former deputy mayor of Riga. In 2013 the party entered an electoral alliance with the centre-left Harmony party to participate in the Riga municipal election. The joint Harmony/GKR list won 58.5% and 39 seats, of which Proud to serve Riga received 15. Together the two parties control the Riga City Council. From 2004–2011 Andris Ameriks was a member of the Riga Council for the Latvia's First Party and thereafter Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, a party of centre-right orientation. The majority of party members were former deputies of the LFP/LW fraction in Riga City Council. In the 2020 Riga City Council election GKR ran separately from Harmony due to a previous breakup of their alliance, winning five seats and a later becoming a member of the opposition. The only representative of the party in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Latvia First
Latvia First ( lv, Latvija pirmajā vietā, LPV) is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia. It was founded in August 2021 by businessman and former member of parliament, former Minister of Transport, former vice-mayor of Riga, Ainārs Šlesers. The party board chair is Ainārs Šlesers. The prequel to the party, the organisation ''Latvia First'' ( lv, Latvija — pirmajā vietā), was first registered on 1 July 2021, before the party itself was established at a founding congress on 14 August in Riga. The party is registered by the Latvian Register of Enterprises on 10 September 2021. History In June 2021, businessman, the former Minister of Transport and Minister of Economy, former member of parliament, former vice-mayor of Riga, Ainārs Šlesers announced that he would run in the 2022 parliamentary elections for a new party that he himself would start. On 1 July, he founded the organisation ''Latvia – First''. The founding party congress was held in Riga on 14 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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We - For Talsi And Municipality
In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms: * ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; also called the 'oblique'.) form * ''our:'' the dependent genitive (possessive) form *''ours:'' the independent genitive (possessive) form * ''ourselves'': the reflexive form There is also a distinct determiner ''we'' as in ''we humans aren't perfect'', which some people consider to be just an extended use of the pronoun. History ''We'' has been part of English since Old English, having come from Proto-Germanic *''wejes'', from PIE *''we''-. Similarly, ''us'' was used in Old English as the accusative and dative plural of ''we'', from PIE *''nes''-. The following table shows the old English first-person plural and dual pronouns: By late Middle English the dual form was lost and the dative and accusative had merged. The ''ours'' geni ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Progressives (Latvia)
The Progressives ( lv, Progresīvie, ) is a social-democratic and progressive political party in Latvia. The party was founded on 25 February 2017. Since 4 September 2021 its leaders have been and Atis Švinka. The Progressives have 11 seats on Riga City Council and 10 seats in the Saeima but do not hold any seats in the European Parliament. History The party is a successor of a social-democratic NGO of the same name () that was founded on March 26, 2011 and led by Ansis Dobelis. The Progressives participated in the 2017 Latvian municipal elections in four municipalities. In two of these, Aizpute and Mārupe Municipality, they won seats on the local councils. The Progressives participated in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election. Prior to the election, they declined to join an alliance with the center to right-wing liberal parties, which was later created without the Progressives as Development/For!. They argued that staying out of the alliance was necessary to ensure that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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For Stability!
For Stability! ( lv, Stabilitātei!; S!) is a eurosceptic Latvian political party founded on 26 February 2021. It was founded by former members of the Riga City Council Aleksejs Roslikovs and Valērijs Petrovs. It is a party that advocates Russian minority politics, and it describes itself as centrist on the political spectrum. The party organized multiple protests in 2021 against mandatory vaccination and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic History The For Stability - Yes! group was founded in the winter of 2021. It was founded by two former Riga councilors elected from the list of the Social Democratic Party "Harmony": Aleksejs Rosļikovs and Valērijs Petrovs. In the early 2020 Riga City Council election, both councilors stood on the list of the Alternative party, which did not win seats in the council. At the end of the ten days set aside for collecting signatures, a total of 315 people participated in the founding of the party. At the time of its founding, th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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For Latvia And Ventspils
For Latvia and Ventspils ( lv, Latvijai un Ventspilij, LuV) is a regionalist political party in Latvia that mainly operates as a localist party in Ventspils. It is mostly known for its chairman, Aivars Lembergs, who has been mayor of Ventspils between 1988 until his arrest in 2021. In 2006, the party signed an agreement with the Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is p ... to allow members of For Latvia and Ventspils to be elected to the Saeima, including the former speaker of the parliament Gundars Daudze, and current members Dana Reizniece-Ozola and Jānis Vucāns. Since then, Lembergs has been named as a candidate for the position of the prime minister many times. Electoral results Ventspils local elections Legislative elections ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |