RIGA — Latvia’s Unity union voted Friday to forgo including For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All for Latvia! candidates under its banner for the fall parliamentary election.

Three right-wing parties in Latvia’s parliament — Civic Union, New Era and the newly-formed Society for Different Politics — have agreed to come together under the name Unity (Vienotība) for next year’s election. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is a member of the New Era Party.

Sarmita Ēlerte, a founder of the The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change and now a member of Unity, said that [private_supervisor]although Unity would welcome cooperation with the two far-right organizations after the election, for now they will run seperately.

“I believe that TB/LNNK and All for Latvia! will be our partners after the election when they will enter parliament. But our differences are too great for to form a consolidated party,” Ēlerte told the Diena newspaper Friday.

On Monday during a press conference Ēlerte went on to contrast Unity’s differences from the new pro-business Šķēle-Šlesers tandem (AŠ)², Aivars Lembergs’ Union of Greens and Farmers and the left-wing Harmony Center.

“Only this kind of government is capable of developing Latvia. It cannot be Šķēle, not Šlesers, nor Lembergs: they are a thing of the past. And it will not be a pro-Kremlin gimmick,” Ēlerte said.

A better position for ethnic Russian voters?

A Latvijas Faktu poll conducted this month shows the left-wing Harmony Center Party leading with 18 percent support among the electorate ahead of the fall elections. Unity is close behind with 17 percent, while the Union of Greens and Farmers at 9.5 percent. (AŠ)² and all other parties are at less than five percent, although 22 percent remain undecided.

Harmony Center, led by Riga Mayor Nils Ušakovs, looks to reform the taxation system, emphasize social-welfare spending, further ethnic Russian integration into Latvian society and increase cooperation with Russia. The party’s base of support is the portion of Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority with voting rights.

Meanwhile the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK union, the most right-wing coalition partner in the current government, is associated with support of the controversial Waffen-SS parade in Riga and All for Latvia! (Visu Latvijai!) is a far-right youth organization.

By maintaining a distance from For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All for Latvia!, Unity will be in a better position to court ethnic Russian voters not already supporting Harmony Center.

Society for Different Politics leader Aigars Štokenbergs said Unity was instead looking to add several small, regional parties such as the Liepājas Party under its umbrella and was also talking to individual candidates of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which would also make inroads into Harmony Center’s left-wing base. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]although Unity would welcome cooperation with the two far-right organizations after the election, for now they will run seperately.

“I believe that TB/LNNK and All for Latvia! will be our partners after the election when they will enter parliament. But our differences are too great for to form a consolidated party,” Ēlerte told the Diena newspaper Friday.

On Monday during a press conference Ēlerte went on to contrast Unity’s differences from the new pro-business Šķēle-Šlesers tandem (AŠ)², Aivars Lembergs’ Union of Greens and Farmers and the left-wing Harmony Center.

“Only this kind of government is capable of developing Latvia. It cannot be Šķēle, not Šlesers, nor Lembergs: they are a thing of the past. And it will not be a pro-Kremlin gimmick,” Ēlerte said.

A better position for ethnic Russian voters?

A Latvijas Faktu poll conducted this month shows the left-wing Harmony Center Party leading with 18 percent support among the electorate ahead of the fall elections. Unity is close behind with 17 percent, while the Union of Greens and Farmers at 9.5 percent. (AŠ)² and all other parties are at less than five percent, although 22 percent remain undecided.

Harmony Center, led by Riga Mayor Nils Ušakovs, looks to reform the taxation system, emphasize social-welfare spending, further ethnic Russian integration into Latvian society and increase cooperation with Russia. The party’s base of support is the portion of Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority with voting rights.

Meanwhile the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK union, the most right-wing coalition partner in the current government, is associated with support of the controversial Waffen-SS parade in Riga and All for Latvia! (Visu Latvijai!) is a far-right youth organization.

By maintaining a distance from For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All for Latvia!, Unity will be in a better position to court ethnic Russian voters not already supporting Harmony Center.

Society for Different Politics leader Aigars Štokenbergs said Unity was instead looking to add several small, regional parties such as the Liepājas Party under its umbrella and was also talking to individual candidates of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which would also make inroads into Harmony Center’s left-wing base. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]although Unity would welcome cooperation with the two far-right organizations after the election, for now they will run seperately.

“I believe that TB/LNNK and All for Latvia! will be our partners after the election when they will enter parliament. But our differences are too great for to form a consolidated party,” Ēlerte told the Diena newspaper Friday.

On Monday during a press conference Ēlerte went on to contrast Unity’s differences from the new pro-business Šķēle-Šlesers tandem (AŠ)², Aivars Lembergs’ Union of Greens and Farmers and the left-wing Harmony Center.

“Only this kind of government is capable of developing Latvia. It cannot be Šķēle, not Šlesers, nor Lembergs: they are a thing of the past. And it will not be a pro-Kremlin gimmick,” Ēlerte said.

A better position for ethnic Russian voters?

A Latvijas Faktu poll conducted this month shows the left-wing Harmony Center Party leading with 18 percent support among the electorate ahead of the fall elections. Unity is close behind with 17 percent, while the Union of Greens and Farmers at 9.5 percent. (AŠ)² and all other parties are at less than five percent, although 22 percent remain undecided.

Harmony Center, led by Riga Mayor Nils Ušakovs, looks to reform the taxation system, emphasize social-welfare spending, further ethnic Russian integration into Latvian society and increase cooperation with Russia. The party’s base of support is the portion of Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority with voting rights.

Meanwhile the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK union, the most right-wing coalition partner in the current government, is associated with support of the controversial Waffen-SS parade in Riga and All for Latvia! (Visu Latvijai!) is a far-right youth organization.

By maintaining a distance from For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All for Latvia!, Unity will be in a better position to court ethnic Russian voters not already supporting Harmony Center.

Society for Different Politics leader Aigars Štokenbergs said Unity was instead looking to add several small, regional parties such as the Liepājas Party under its umbrella and was also talking to individual candidates of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which would also make inroads into Harmony Center’s left-wing base. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]although Unity would welcome cooperation with the two far-right organizations after the election, for now they will run seperately.

“I believe that TB/LNNK and All for Latvia! will be our partners after the election when they will enter parliament. But our differences are too great for to form a consolidated party,” Ēlerte told the Diena newspaper Friday.

On Monday during a press conference Ēlerte went on to contrast Unity’s differences from the new pro-business Šķēle-Šlesers tandem (AŠ)², Aivars Lembergs’ Union of Greens and Farmers and the left-wing Harmony Center.

“Only this kind of government is capable of developing Latvia. It cannot be Šķēle, not Šlesers, nor Lembergs: they are a thing of the past. And it will not be a pro-Kremlin gimmick,” Ēlerte said.

A better position for ethnic Russian voters?

A Latvijas Faktu poll conducted this month shows the left-wing Harmony Center Party leading with 18 percent support among the electorate ahead of the fall elections. Unity is close behind with 17 percent, while the Union of Greens and Farmers at 9.5 percent. (AŠ)² and all other parties are at less than five percent, although 22 percent remain undecided.

Harmony Center, led by Riga Mayor Nils Ušakovs, looks to reform the taxation system, emphasize social-welfare spending, further ethnic Russian integration into Latvian society and increase cooperation with Russia. The party’s base of support is the portion of Latvia’s large ethnic Russian minority with voting rights.

Meanwhile the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK union, the most right-wing coalition partner in the current government, is associated with support of the controversial Waffen-SS parade in Riga and All for Latvia! (Visu Latvijai!) is a far-right youth organization.

By maintaining a distance from For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and All for Latvia!, Unity will be in a better position to court ethnic Russian voters not already supporting Harmony Center.

Society for Different Politics leader Aigars Štokenbergs said Unity was instead looking to add several small, regional parties such as the Liepājas Party under its umbrella and was also talking to individual candidates of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which would also make inroads into Harmony Center’s left-wing base. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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