The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence ( lv, Latvijas Neatkarības karš), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaim ...

, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It is positioned in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

on the political spectrum and it has expressed

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

rhetoric. Since 2002, the party has been a part of 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 pos ...

(ZZS), together with the

Latvian Green Party The Latvian Green Party ( lv, Latvijas Zaļā partija, LZP) is a green political party in Latvia. It was founded in 1990. It was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the Centrism, centr ...

. It was formerly a member of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

History

Founded in 1917, the party was the most influential

party in Latvia in the period from

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1918 until the

self-coup A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...

led by Kārlis Ulmanis in 1934, and the second most popular party overall after the

Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ) , colours = Maroon Green , headquarters = Riga, Lāčplēša iela 60, LV-1011 , seats1_title = Saeima , seats1 = , seats2_title = European Parliament , seats2 = , website lsdsp.lv, membership_year = 2017 , membership = 633 The Latv ...

Ulmanis Ulmanis (feminine: Ulmane) is a Latvian surname of German origin (from German surname Ullmann). Individuals with the surname include: *Guntis Ulmanis (born 1939), President of Latvia 1993–1999 *Gunārs Ulmanis (1938–2010), Latvian footballer ...

, who was a member of the party, banned all political parties after his coup including the LZS. As Latvia was subsequently

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

during the course of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the party was dormant until it reformed in 1990 when Latvia regained its independence. Immediately after the restoration of independence, there existed several groups competing at elections to claim the legacy of the pre-war LZS. Since 2002 it has been part of the

(''ZZS'') coalition, which it formed along with the

. The coalition also included the

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 ...

and the

Liepāja Party The Liepāja Party ( lv, Liepājas Partija) is a localist political party in Latvia. It operates in the city of Liepāja, where its chairman, Uldis Sesks, was mayor from 1997 to 2018. The party has an agreement with the Union of Greens and Farme ...

, who had cooperation agreements with the party allowing their members to be elected to 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 ...

on the list of the Union of Greens and Farmers. From

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

the party had one

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Iveta Grigule Iveta is a given name. Notable people with the name include: People *Iveta Apkalna (born 1976), Latvian organist * Iveta Bartošová (1966–2014) was a Czech singer, actress and celebrity *Iveta Benešová (born 1983), Czech tennis player *Iveta ...

, who ultimately sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats group, having previously sat with the

Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD or EFD²) was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) g ...

group and as a Non-Attached Member. The Green Party and the Liepāja Party left ZZS in June 2022, but were replaced by the

Electoral results

Legislative elections

Symbols and logos

File:Latvian Farmers Union logo.png, Old logo

References

External links

* Agrarian parties Centrist parties in Latvia Conservative parties in Latvia Formerly banned political parties Political parties of the Russian Revolution Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union {{Latvia-party-stub