This article gives an overview of liberalism 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 ...

. It is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation 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 ...

. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labelled themselves as a liberal party.

Background

Latvia was one of the early post

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

nations which adopted some ideas from the 1919

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...

. German

lawyer Hugo Preuß (Preuss) is often attributed as the author of the draft version of the constitution that was passed by the Weimar National Assembly, which historian William L. Shirer in a book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich regards as "the most liberal and democratic document of its kind the twentieth century had ever seen ... full of ingenious and admirable devices which seemed to guarantee the working of an almost flawless democracy.". In Latvia some early law experts such as Kārlis Dišlers, Fēlikss Cielēns and modern day

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

s agree that Weimar Constitution was underlying the wording of the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-functioning republican basic law in the ...

(''Satversme''), and in some way is a synthesis between the Weimar Constitution and Westminster system used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Liberalism in Latvia was a small but important force since 1922 in Latvia. The current regained position after the re-independence of 1990. Nowadays the

Latvian Way Latvian Way ( lv, Latvijas Ceļš) was a conservative-liberal political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007. It described itself as "a liberal party defending peopl ...

(''Latvijas Ceļš'', member LI, ELDR) is a right of center market liberal party. Currently the party has merged with the

Latvia's First Party The Latvia's First Party ( lv, Latvijas Pirmā Partija) was a socially conservative, Christian-democratic right-wing political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvian Way to form Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way in 2007. It was founded on 25 M ...

to form LPP/LC.

German Baltic Democratic Party

*1918: Moderate German liberals in Latvia formed the German-Baltic Democratic Party (''Deutsch-Baltische Demokratische Partei/Vācbaltu demokrātiskā partija'') *1934: The party is banned, along with all other political parties, after a coup by Kārlis Ulmanis

German Baltic Progressive Party

*1918: Radical German liberals in Latvia formed the German-Baltic Progressive Party (''Deutsch-Baltische Fortschrittliche Partei/Vācbaltu progresīvā partija'') *1934: The party is banned

From Democratic Party to Democratic Centre

*1922: Shortly after its foundation the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(''Demokrātiskā partija'') merged with the Radical Democratic Party (''Radikālā Demokrātiskā partija'') and the People's Party (''Ļaužu partija'') into the Democratic Centre (''Demokrātiskais centrs''). The party is led by the later presidents of Latvia,

Jānis Čakste Jānis Kristaps Čakste (14 September 1859 – 14 March 1927) was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the People's Council (1918–1920), the Speaker of the Constitutio ...

and

Gustavs Zemgals Gustavs Zemgals (12 August 1871, Džūkste parish, Courland Governorate – 6 January 1939) was a Latvian politician and the second President of Latvia. He also was twice the mayor of Riga. Zemgals was born in Džūkste, Latvia. He attended ele ...

. *1934: The party is banned. In exile it is continued by the Liberal Party (''Liberāļu partija'')

Latgalian Democratic Party

*1920: Latgalian liberals formed the

Latgalian Democratic Party Latgalian may refer to: * Something of or relating to Latgale, a region in eastern Latvia * Latgalians, an ancient Baltic tribe * Latgalians (modern), the modern inhabitants of Latgale * Latgalian language Latgalian (''latgalīšu volūda'', ...

(''Latgales demokrātu partija'') *1926: The party merged into the ''Latgalian Democratic Farmers Union'' (''Latgales demokrātisko zemnieku savienība'')

Mizrochi

*1922: Liberal Jewish

Zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

formed the Mizrachi *1934: The party is banned

From Democratic Centre Party to Latvian Democratic Party

*1992: A

Democratic Centre Party Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

(''Demokrātiskā centra partija'') is founded as a refoundation of the ⇒ Democratic Centre *1994: The party merged with another group into the

Democratic Party "Saimnieks" The Democratic Party "Saimnieks" ( lv, Demokrātiskā partija "Saimnieks") was a Latvian centre-left political party formed through the merger of the Latvian Democratic Party and the political party "Saimnieks" in 1995. It won the 1995 parliament ...

(''Demokrātiskā partija "Saimnieks"'') *1997: Many members left to join the Workers' Party and the

Latvian National Reform Party Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latv ...

*1999: The party is renamed Latvian Democratic Party (''Latvijas demokrātiskā partija'')

Latvia's Way

*1993: Liberals from the '' Popular Front of Latvia'' formed the Latvia's Way (''Latvijas Ceļš'') *2006: Latvia's Way forged an alliance with the

, forming the LPP/LC. *2010: LPP/LC joined hands with the People's Party to form the

For a Good Latvia For a Good Latvia ( lv, Par Labu Latviju!, also known as (AŠ)²) was a Latvian right-wing party alliance founded on 22 April 2010 by the People's Party, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, the businessmen's movement For a Good Latvia and some ...

(''Par Labu Latviju'') alliance. *2011: People's Party is disbanded, so is the PLL alliance.

New Era Party to Unity

*2002:

New Era Party The New Era Party ( lv, Jaunais laiks, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011. New Era was a member of the European People' ...

(''Jaunais laiks'') was formed. *2008:

Society for Political Change The Society for Political Change (, SCP) was a social-liberal political party in Latvia founded on 6 September 2008. Its members include two former ministers, former foreign minister Artis Pabriks and former economics minister Aigars Štokenbergs ...

(''Sabiedrība Citai Politikai'') was formed. *2010: JL, SCP and the conservative ⇒ Civic Union formed an electoral alliance called ''-'

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

(''Vienotība''). *2011: Unity became a political party. *2011:

Zatlers' Reform Party The Reform Party ( lv, Reformu partija), until April 2012 known as Zatlers' Reform Party ( lv, Zatlera Reformu partija, links=no, ZRP), was a centre-right political party in Latvia founded by former President Valdis Zatlers on 23 July 2011. It wo ...

(''Zatlera Reformu Partija'') was formed. *2015: ZRP merged into Unity. *2018: Unity formed with regional parties New Unity (''Jaunā Vienotība'').

For Latvia's Development

*2013: Political party

For Latvia's Development For Latvia's Development ( lv, Latvijas attīstībai, abbr. LA) is a liberal political party in Latvia. It is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum. History The party was founded in 2013 by the former Prime Minister of La ...

(''Latvijas attīstībai'') founded by Einārs Repše *2014:

Juris Pūce Juris Pūce (born 22 January 1980, in Riga) is a Latvian economist, lawyer, and politician. Former Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia in the government of Krisjanis Karins and chairman of the board of the ...

was elected as the new chairperson. Party became a member of ALDE (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 ...

) *2017: Party elected in Riga City Council in an electoral alliance with

Latvian Association of Regions The Latvian Association of Regions or Latvian Regional Alliance ( lv, Latvijas Reģionu apvienība, LRA) is a centrist political party in Latvia. It was founded as an alliance on 13 March 2014 and is headed by former Unity MP Edvards Smiltēns ...

*2017:

Movement For! Movement For! ( lv, Kustība Par!) is a liberal political party in Latvia.

(''Kustība Par!'') was founded. *2018: The electoral alliance Development/For! was formed by For Latvia's Development, Movement For!, and

Izaugsme Growth () is a centrist political party in Latvia. It was founded on March 27, 2013 by cardiologist Andris Skride who is a member of the Development/For! alliance. It is governed by a board of five members – Artūrs Ancāns, Artūrs Čačka, ...

Liberal leaders

*Demokrātiskais Centrs:

Latvian Development For Latvia's Development ( lv, Latvijas attīstībai, abbr. LA) is a liberal political party in Latvia. It is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum. History The party was founded in 2013 by the former Prime Minister of La ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberalism In Latvia

Politics of Latvia