The Latvian Association of Regions or Latvian Regional Alliance (, LRA) is a
centrist
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
Edvards Smiltēns
Edvards Smiltēns (born 18 September 1984) is a Latvian politician. He was Speaker of the Saeima from 2022 to 2023.
Early life and education
Smiltēns was born in 1984 in Riga, Latvia. He received his early education from Riga French Lyceum. Lat ...
.
History
The alliance won 8 seats in the Saeima
The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, 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 p ...
at the 2014 parliamentary election. It contested the elections as a political alliance
A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
of several smaller regionalist parties, including the , the LSDSP, the Christian Democratic Union and the . The first leader of the LRA was Mārtiņš Bondars until stepping down and leaving the alliance in 2017, after which he was succeeded by Nellija Kleinberga.
In the lead up to the 2018 elections, the LSDSP and the Christian Democrats left the alliance, which eventually fell just short of the 5% barrier at the polls. An even closer result came in the 2019 European Parliament elections, where the LRA lacked 0.02 percent to reach the minimum threshold of votes needed for gaining a seat.
On 22 August 2020, two of the parties making up the alliance – ''For Ogre Municipality
Ogre Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2002 by Merger (politics), merging Ogre, Latvia, Ogre town and Ogresgals Parish. In 2009 it absorbed Krape Parish, Ķeipene Parish, Laubere Parish, Madliena ...
'' () and the Regional Alliance voted to reorganize LRA into a single political party. The other members – the Vidzeme Party and three NGOs voted to continue as affiliated cooperation partners under the LRA banner.
In May 2022 the LRA formed a united list for the 2022 Saeima elections together with the Latvian Green Party (former ZZS member), the Liepāja Party (former ZZS partner) and an upcoming political NGO led by Liepāja
Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...
construction contractor Uldis Pīlēns. The interim name of the ticket was reported as "United List of Latvia" or "Latvia United List" () (previously "Power of Regions" (''Reģionu spēks'') was suggested). The NGO led by Pīlēns scheduled its founding event for July 1st and announced that it would be called ''Apvienotais Latvijas saraksts'' or the United List.
Election results
Legislative elections
European Parliament elections
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Centrist parties in Latvia
Regionalist parties
2014 establishments in Latvia
Political parties established in 2014