Unity (Latvian political party)

Unity
Vienotība
President Arvils Ašeradens
Chairperson Jānis Rozenbergs
General Secretary Artis Kampars
Founded 2010 (2010) (electoral alliance)
6 August 2011 (2011-08-06) (party)
Merger of New Era Party,
Civic Union,
Society for Other Politics
Headquarters Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics Boulevard 12-3 Riga LV-1050
Youth wing Vienotības Jaunatnes organizācija[1]
Membership (2017) 2,397[2]
Ideology Liberal conservatism[3]
Pro-Europeanism
Political position Centre to centre-right[4]
European affiliation European People's Party[5]
International affiliation None
European Parliament group European People's Party
Colours Green
Saeima
8 / 100
European Parliament
3 / 8
Website
http://www.vienotiba.lv/

Unity (Latvian: Vienotība) is a liberal-conservative[3] political party in Latvia. It is currently the largest party of the centre-right in Latvian politics and was the leading party in the Dombrovskis and Straujuma cabinets from its inception in 2010 until February 2016. Unity is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). It remains the largest parliamentary party in the Kučinskis cabinet.

The party was founded as an electoral alliance of the New Era Party, Civic Union, and the Society for Political Change on 6 March 2010. It was reportedly founded in a bid to form a counterweight to the left-wing Harmony Centre alliance,[6] which had been strengthening in polls and elections, while the other right-wing parties (People's Party, For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and LPP/LC) were below the electoral threshold of 5%.[7] On 6 August 2011 the alliance was transformed into a single political party.[8]

Its current president since 19 August 2017 is the current Minister for Economics of Latvia, Arvils Ašeradens,[9] who succeeded former European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.[10] The incumbent Prime Minister is Māris Kučinskis from the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), but Unity and ZZS each hold 5 ministerial portfolios in the 2016-2018 government. For the 2014 general election, Unity announced an electoral pact with the Reform Party, which was followed by a full absorption in March 2015.[11]

After the demise of the Straujuma cabinet in 2015, the party has suffered from internal conflicts and defections of MPs to other political parties, undermining its ratings.[12][13][14][15] For the 2018 elections, the party formed the New Unity (Latvian: Jaunā Vienotība) joint electoral list in April 2018 together with the regional Kuldīga County Party, For Valmiera and Vidzeme and For Tukums City and County parties, joined by the Jēkabpils Regional Party in June.[16][17] The Latgale Party, a previous partner of Unity, was uncertain whether to join New Unity, since a faction of the party supported a partnership with the Latvian Association of Regions,[18] ultimately signing a cooperation agreement in July.[19] An offer to join the list was also extended to the liberal Movement For! and the center-left Progressives party, but both parties eventually declined.[20]

Election results

Parliament (Saeima)

year votes % seats +/– Government
2010 301,424 31.9
33 / 100
 Increase 15 Yes
2011 172,567 18.8
20 / 100
 Decrease 13 Yes
2014 199,535 21.9
23 / 100
 Increase 3 Yes
2018 56,542 6,69
8 / 100
 Decrease 15

European Parliament

year votes % seats +/– Government
2014 204,979 46.2 (#1)
4 / 8
 Increase 1

References

  1. ↑ Vienotiba/Youth, Unity (www.vienotiba.lv), retrieved on 13 March 2015
  2. ↑ "What's up with Latvia's feeble civic engagement?". LSM.lv. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2014). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 4)". eng.lsm.lv. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  5. ↑ EPP/Latvia, European People's Party (www.epp.eu), retrieved on 28 March 2012
  6. ↑ Unity has potential, but faces rocky road Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Latviansonline.com (14 March 2010). Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Harmony Centre is Most Popular Latvian Party | Angus Reid Public Opinion Archived 9 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Angus-reid.com. Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Apollo – Ziņas: Izveidota partija «Vienotība» Archived 8 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Apollo.lv. Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "New leader at the helm of Unity party". LSM.lv. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  10. ↑ "New leader of Latvia's Unity party calls for reconciliation among members, fresh start". ERR. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  11. ↑ 'Vienotība' un RP vienojas par kopīgu startu 12.Saeimas vēlēšanās, LETA, 27 December 2013, accessed 21 September 2014
  12. ↑ "Kampars: Unity is accused of not taking interest in society's woes aka the arrogance created by Āboltiņa's symbol". Baltic News Network. 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  13. ↑ "Unpopular MP booted from Unity party". LSM.lv. 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  14. ↑ "Political expert: Unity will not disappear just yet". Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  15. ↑ Kaža, Juris (14 August 2018). "Who is who in upcoming Latvian parliamentary elections". Re:Baltica. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Unity may become New Unity; Kariņš may become prime minister candidate". Baltic News Network. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  17. ↑ DELFI (2018-06-16). "'Jaunajai Vienotībai' pievienojas Jēkabpils reģionālā partija". DELFI (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  18. ↑ Egle, Ināra (2018-05-23). "Latgales partija ir apjukusi ("The Latgale Party is confused")". Diena. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  19. ↑ "New Unity and Latgales party announce joint start at 13th Saeima elections". Baltic News Network. 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  20. ↑ ""Par!" neiesaistīsies "Vienotības" piedāvātajā apvienībā ar reģionu partijām - Valmieras Ziņas". Valmieras Ziņas (in Latvian). 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-06-30.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.