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 Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

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 ideological or p ...

in Latvia founded by former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Valdis Zatlers Valdis Zatlers (born 22 March 1955) is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2 ...

on 23 July 2011. It won 22 seats in the Saeima in the 2011 election.

History

On 9 July 2011, Zatlers announced that he would found the party on 23 July 2011; the same day as the country's first parliamentary dissolution referendum. The party was founded on 23 July and Zatlers was elected its chairman by 251 votes to 2. Zatlers announced that the party would not cooperate with the three 'oligarch' parties – 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 ...

, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, and the People's Party. A survey suggested that 33% of voters would support the new party, and as of July 2011, 17.5% would vote for them, while 52% were certain that the party would receive seats in the Saeima. By September 2011, over 1000 people had applied to join the party.Apollo – Ziņas: Zatlera Reformu partijā pieteikušies vairāk nekā 1000 cilvēku
. Apollo.lv. Retrieved 19 September 2011. the core of the party was formed by 15–20 members. The party drafted 10 working principles, and invited discussion on these principles from anyone who applied for membership. At the 2011 parliamentary election, the party won 22 seats, making it the second-largest party, behind the

Harmony Centre ;russian: Достойная жизнь для каждого) , website saskanascentrs.lv Harmony Centre ( lv, Saskaņas Centrs, SC; russian: Центр Cогласия, ЦC) was a social-democratic political alliance in Latvia. It origi ...

alliance. It agreed to form a coalition with

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; ...

, and after negotiations, the National Alliance, with

Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis (born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously serve ...

to continue as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and Zatlers to be

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima ( lv, Saeimas priekšsēdētājs; lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from office, dies or is removed from office be ...

. On 17 October 2011, Zatlers failed to be elected Speaker as had been agreed, and Unity's

Solvita Āboltiņa Solvita Āboltiņa ( Mellupe; born 19 February 1963) is a Latvian politician who was Speaker of the Saeima from 2010 until 2014. Early life She graduated from Riga Secondary School No. 5, a German language immersion school in 1981, and from the ...

was re-elected instead. Six ZRP MPs – Klāvs Olšteins, Elīna Siliņa, Gunārs Rusiņš, Jānis Upenieks, Viktors Valainis, and

Jānis Junkurs Jānis is a Latvian masculine given name. The first written use of the name Jānis dates back to 1290. It may refer to: *Jānis Ādamsons (born 1956), Latvian politician *Jānis Akuraters (1876–1937), Latvian poet, writer, playwright and polit ...

– left the party to become non-attached members. In April 2012 the party dropped references to its founder from its name and became known simply as the ''Reform party''. For the 2014 general election, the Reform Party announced an electoral pact with its government coalition partner

. In March 2015 the party began the formal process of disbanding and most of its core base was absorbed by Unity. The liquidation process concluded in April 2020.

History

Election results

Parliament (''Saeima'')

References

External links