The Latvian Unity Party ( lv, Latvijas Vienības partija), abbreviated to LVP was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

in the 1990s. Established in December 1992, the party primarily represented former communists. The party ran a list of candidates in the 1993 election, but won only 0.1% of the vote: far below the 4%

election 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 ...

. It received a new lease of life when it was joined by Alberts Kauls, a celebrated leader of the former

Ādaži Ādaži () (formerly german: Neuermühlen) is a town in Pierīga, on the left bank of the Gauja river. Town is administrative center of Ādaži Municipality. It is located by the highway A1, 21.6 km from the center of Riga. Ādaži ha ...

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...

.Dawisha, et al (1997), p. 279 The party won eight seats in the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, 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 po ...

at the 1995 election. It joined a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

government under

Andris Šķēle Andris Šķēle (born 16 January 1958) is a Latvian former politician and business oligarch. He served two terms as Prime Minister of Latvia from 21 December 1995 to 7 August 1997, and from 16 July 1999 to 5 May 2000. Early life Šķēle gra ...

from 21 December 1995 to 13 February 1997. Initially, Alberts Kauls served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, but was made to resign by Šķēle on 6 May 1996, and his positions were given to fellow LVP member Roberts Dilba to hold until the fall of the coalition in February 1997. Most of its deputies left the party in March 1997, with most joining the

Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...

– Christian Democratic Union caucus in the Saeima. In the 1998 election, the party won no seats. The party was dissolved around 2001.

Footnotes

References

* {{cite book , title=The Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe , last1=Dawisha , first1=Karen , last2=Parrott , first2=Bruce , year=1997 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , location=Cambridge , isbn=978-0-521-59938-2 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRkpNovMd_cC Defunct political parties in Latvia Political parties established in 1992 Socialist parties in Latvia