This article gives an overview of liberalism in Latvia. 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 A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in the Saeima. 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. 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 The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...

, which historian

William L. Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...

in a book

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany'' is a book by American journalist William L. Shirer in which the author chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from the birth of Adolf Hitler in 1889 to the end of World W ...

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 jurists 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 (''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 2 ...

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 Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to ...

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 (''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 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 ...

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

Mizrochi

*1922: Liberal Jewish Zionists formed the Mizrachi *1934: The party is banned

From Democratic Centre Party to Latvian Democratic Party

*1992: A Democratic Centre Party (''Demokrātiskā centra partija'') is founded as a refoundation of the ⇒ Democratic Centre *1994: The party merged with another group into the Democratic Party "Saimnieks" (''Demokrātiskā partija "Saimnieks"'') *1997: Many members left to join the Workers' Party and the Latvian National Reform Party *1999: The party is renamed Latvian Democratic Party (''Latvijas demokrātiskā partija'')

Latvia's Way

*1993: Liberals from the ''

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas fronte) was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and th ...

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

New Era Party to Unity

*2002: New Era Party (''Jaunais laiks'') was formed. *2008: Society for Political Change (''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; ...

(''Vienotība''). *2011: Unity became a political party. *2011: Zatlers' Reform Party (''Zatlera Reformu Partija'') was formed. *2015: ZRP merged into Unity. *2018: Unity formed with regional parties

New Unity The New Unity ( lv, Jaunā Vienotība, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia. Its members are Unity, the Latgale Party and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and liberalism. History Be ...

(''Jaunā Vienotība'').

For Latvia's Development

*2013: Political party For Latvia's Development (''Latvijas attīstībai'') founded by Einārs Repše *2014: Juris Pūce was elected as the new chairperson. Party became a member of ALDE (the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) *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 Smiltēn ...

*2017: Movement For! (''Kustība Par!'') was founded. *2018: The electoral alliance

Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) is a liberal political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2018 and it is made up of Movement For!, For Latvia's Development and Izaugsme. The coalition itself has embraced a centrist pos ...

was formed by For Latvia's Development, Movement For!, and Izaugsme

Liberal leaders

*Demokrātiskais Centrs: Jānis Čakste * Latvian Development: Juris Pūce

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberalism In Latvia Latvia Politics of Latvia