Platform 21 (

Latvian Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvi ...

: ''Platforma 21'', P21, also stylized as p²¹), previously known as For Each and Every One ( lv, Katram un katrai, KuK) and Law and Order (, LuK), is a

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populism, populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-Elitism, elitist sentiments, opposi ...

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 political ideology ...

in Latvia. It is positioned on the right-wing on the political spectrum and it is staunchly

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

and

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

. It was founded in January 2021 and is led by

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular ...

deputy

Aldis Gobzems Aldis Gobzems (born October 10, 1978) is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He first rose to prominence as a lawyer who represented victims of the 2013 Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse, and was the prime ministerial candidate for the Who O ...

. After its leader and co-founder

left the party in October 2022 after party failed to pass the threshold in

2022 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local ele ...

. The party gathered on its annual party congress in March 2023, where it was decided to change party's name to Platform 21, and elected Raimonds Lazdiņš as its new leader.

Founding

Since being expelled from

Who Owns the State? For a Humane Latvia ( lv, Par cilvēcīgu Latviju, PCL), previously known as Who Owns the State? (''Kam pieder valsts?, KPV''), is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia. Since 2022, its a member of the Union for Latvia () alliance togeth ...

(KPV) in February 2019,

had hinted at starting a new party. A preliminary kick-off event for the party was held in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

on October 10, 2020, with a promise to found the party by November 22 the same year. Due to a national state of emergency caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and introduced on 9 November, that – among other things – put a temporary ban on gathering the 200 people needed to legally register a political party, the party founding and registration was postponed. In a December 28, 2020 interview with

Latvijas Avīze ''Latvijas Avīze'' (''Latvian Newspaper'') is a national conservative Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published in Riga. The Latvian word ''avīze'' ('newspaper' or 'journal') is a loanword and cognate In historical ...

, Gobzems said that he would found the party on January 8, 2021. The party ''Law and Order'' was eventually founded via videolink on 8 January 2021. Among the over 500 co-founders attending the conference call were the four

deputies

Karina Sprūde Karina may refer to: People *Karina (name), a female given name (including a list of people with the given name) *Karina (American singer) (born 1991) *Karina (Spanish singer) (born 1946) *Karina (Venezuelan singer) (born 1968) *Elda Neyis Mosquer ...

, Ļubova Švecova, and

Jūlija Stepaņenko Julija Stepanenko (russian: Юлия Степаненко, Julija Stepanenko, lv, Jūlija Stepaņenko; born Julija Fedotova on 1 September 1977) is a Latvian politician and lawyer, serving as a Deputies of the Saeima, deputy of the Saeima, the p ...

. Gobzems and Sprūde were elected in the

2018 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

on the list of ''Who Owns the State?'', while Švecova and Stepaņenko were elected on the

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

list. Aldis Gobzems and Jūlija Stepaņenko were elected co-chairmen of the party. On 29 January 2021, the Latvian Register of Enterprises postponed their decision on whether to legally register the party or not, due to issues with insufficient information in the application documents. The party was given exactly three months to fix the issues. On 26 February, the Register of Enterprises officially registered the party. Similarly to KPV, KuK was ideologically ambiguous while fielding relentless anti-elite rhetoric that tapped into the

anti-vaccination Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

and anti-lockdown movements that had spread across Latvia during the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. In December 2021, Gobzems organized a “Rhododendron tour” of Latvia, culminating in an unlicensed, loosely organized evening demonstration outside

Riga Castle Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Bal ...

, the residenc of the

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The president may be e ...

. Party co-chair Jūlija Stepaņenko and board member Ļubova Švecova, both members of parliament, left the party on 30 June 2021, citing Gobzems' style of communication. He had in weeks leading up to the breakaway been criticized for encouraging people not vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear a yellow star, as he claims the government's alleged discrimination against non-vaccinated people is comparable to that of the Jews in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. On 16 March 2022, the party was renamed to ''For Each and Every One''. With only the pandemic and an anti-elite message to draw on, Gobzems left the country around spring and resettled with his family in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Although he returned to campaign in the summer, his activity had diminished, and his party polled just 3.7% in the Saeima election. Almost immediately, Gobzems quit the party and permanently returned to Spain.

Change to Platform 21

At the party congress on 26 March 2023, the name of the party was changed to ''Platform 21''. It was also decided that the party would become a centrist, modern national party. Raimonds Lazdiņš was elected as the chairman of the party. Party board member Karina Sprūde said that the change can be called "a restart" of the party. The number 21 in the name is said to symbolize the 21st century.

Previous logos

File:Logo of the Law and Order (Latvia).svg, 2021–2022 File:Katram un Katrai logo.jpg, 2022–2023

Election results

Legislative elections

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(in Latvian) {{Latvian political parties Political parties established in 2021 Political parties in Latvia Right-wing populist parties Eurosceptic parties in Latvia Conservative parties in Latvia Nationalist parties in Latvia