Parliamentary elections were held in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

on 7 October 2006.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1122 The governing coalition, led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Aigars Kalvītis Aigars Kalvītis (born 27 June 1966) is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvia ...

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.

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 In law, an alien is generally any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems. Lexicology The term "alien" is derived from the ...

” 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 Juris Boldāns, the former head of the administration of

Kubuli Parish Kubuli Parish (; until 2011 officially known as Kubuļi parish) is an administrative unit of Balvi Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europ ...

elected from TB/LNNK, was sentenced by the

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

Regional Court to 8 months imprisonment for election fraud in October 2007, along with four members of the local election committee and his son. He also resigned from the party, but said he was not guilty. After an appeal from Boldāns, the sentence was reduced to 6 months, but the ban on participating in national and local elections for 2 years was upheld. After serving his sentence, he was released in April 2008, after which his mandate was shortly restored, although he has submitted a

cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

appeal to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Boldāns ultimately lost his seat in October 2008, when the Senate of the Supreme Court declared him guilty and sentenced him to an additional two months' imprisonment. A member of "Harmony Centre", Jurijs Klementjevs and three employees of his enterprise were fined for buying votes by

Zemgale Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic trib ...

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.Pārskats par atklātajiem partiju finansēšanas pārkāpumiem Saeimas vēlēšanās 2006. gadā

Results

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

External links

The 9th Saeima election website
{{Latvian elections Parliamentary elections in Latvia

Parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...