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Viewing cable 06RIGA823, LATVIA'S ELECTIONS: LITTLE CHANGE BUT SOME SURPRISES

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06RIGA823 2006-10-10 11:05 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Riga
VZCZCXRO4043
OO RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRA #0823/01 2831105
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101105Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3414
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIGA 000823 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM LG
SUBJECT: LATVIA'S ELECTIONS: LITTLE CHANGE BUT SOME SURPRISES 
 
Ref: A) Riga 761 B) Riga 762 C) Riga 792 D) Riga 802 
 
1. Summary:  Latvia's October 7 parliamentary elections provided an 
endorsement for the current minority government of PM Aigars 
Kalvitis.  The three parties in the current coalition won 51 seats 
in the 100 seat Saeima (parliament), although they will likely 
invite in a fourth party to add to the coalition's majority. 
Kalvitis will almost certainly remain as PM and little change in 
policy is expected as a result of the election.  Center-right, 
anti-corruption New Era did much better than polls had suggested, 
but is likely to remain outside of government as it continues to 
feel the effects of its decision to leave government last April. 
The big surprise in the election was the unexpected success of the 
leftist, Russian-oriented Harmony Center party and the poor showing 
by its cousin PCTVL.  In a change from previous elections where 
there was significant segmentation between Latvia's two major ethnic 
groups, Harmony Center appears to have drawn a significant number of 
ethnic Latvian voters (25 - 33 percent of its votes) and the 
conservative First Party appears to have done similarly well among 
ethnic Russians.  The new parliament will take office November 7, 
although the current ministerial lineup could stay in place through 
the NATO summit at the end of November.  End summary. 
 
2. Sixty-two percent of Latvia's 1.44 million eligible voters turned 
out on October 7 to vote for their representatives in the Saeima. 
With all votes counted and adjusting for the results in each of the 
country's five multi-member districts, the Peoples' Party (TP) won 
23 seats, Greens and Farmers (ZZS) 18, New Era (JL) 18, Harmony 
Center (SC) 17, First Party (LPP) 10, Fatherland and Freedom (TB) 8, 
and For Human Rights in a United Latvia (PCTVL) 6.  The other twelve 
parties on the ballot failed to receive the five percent of the vote 
nationwide required to get in to Parliament.  All seven of the 
parties which won seats are represented in the current Saeima, which 
also includes some independent members.  Because of the complex 
mechanics for allocating seats to individuals on the party lists, it 
could be a week or more before we know exactly which individuals 
from the parties have been elected to the parliament.  (See Ref A 
for details on the mechanics of the elections and ref B for synopses 
of the parties). 
 
3. Because PM Aigars Kalvitis' People's Party won the most seats, it 
is likely that President Vike-Freiberga will offer him the first 
opportunity to form a government.  With TP's current coalition 
parties ZZS and LPP the three would control 51 seats in the new 
parliament, one more than a majority.  While it is possible that the 
current coalition would continue, it seems more likely that they 
would seek to bolster their majority by adding another party to the 
mix.  The most likely new partner would be TB and its eight seats. 
Although TB is nationalist in its orientation, especially on issues 
related to Latvia's ethnic Russian community, its foreign policy is 
pro-NATO, pro-US and pro-EU and its economic policy was rated 
highest by mainline economists during the campaign.  Even if the 
current coalition were expanded to include TB, we see no major 
changes in policy in the near term.  Some ministers could change 
however as portfolios are reallocated among the parties to reflect 
the election results. 
 
4. Other coalition arrangements would be possible by inviting New 
Era into government.  With 18 seats, it could supplant either ZZS or 
LPP and the coalition would still have a majority, but we view this 
possibility as unlikely.  JL left government in April and criticized 
the remaining parties for being weak in efforts to fight corruption. 
 JL's walkout and subsequent rhetoric did not endear it to the other 
center-right parties and the chances of it being invited to join the 
coalition are small.  If it were invited in, it is unlikely that JL 
would be offered the number and level of ministries commensurate 
with the results it achieved in the elections and we judge it 
unlikely they would come in on those terms. 
 
5. The least likely coalition scenario would have either SC or PCTVL 
join the government, but despite SC's seeming success in attracting 
Latvian voters, we don't judge that Latvian politicians are ready 
for this.  Moreover, SC and PCTVL's leftist platforms on domestic, 
social, economic, and foreign policy would make it very difficult to 
find agreement with the center-right parties on a government agenda. 
 Meanwhile, it is likely that PCTVL will have to do some internal 
thinking about what caused it to drop so much in popularity (it won 
25 seats in the last election, although it fractured during the 
course of the four year term, , but pre-election polls consistently 
showed it as one of the top vote getters).  SC will also need to do 
some internal thinking to more clearly define itself since its low 
pre-election poll numbers mean it was not subject to much press or 
NGO scrutiny.  For example, its platform lacked any mention of 
foreign policy.  Additionally, SC is a collection of several parties 
with sometimes varying interests and it will be interesting to see 
if they can hold together for the four year life of the parliament. 
 
6. The new parliament will take its seats on November 7 and the 
current government will formally resign that day.  Even if the 
coalition arrangements are completed by then, it is possible that 
the current ministerial arrangements will stay in place through the 
NATO summit November 28 - 29 to ensure continuity for that event. 
 
 
RIGA 00000823  002 OF 002 
 
 
7. The voting on election day proceeded without incident.  Embassy 
officers visited more than twenty five polling stations around the 
country and reported no problems.  The OSCE/ODIHR mission reported 
that the elections were generally free and fair without any serious 
violations or irregularities.  However, the turnout was down from 
the last elections in 2002 when nearly 71 percent of registered 
voters participated. 
 
Bailey