The Latvian Farmers' Union (, LZS) is an agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

(as ), it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum and it has expressed

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and nationalistic rhetoric. Since 2002, the party has been a part of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS). It was formerly a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

History

Founded in 1917, the party was the most influential

party in Latvia in the period from

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1918 until the self-coup led by Kārlis Ulmanis in 1934, and the second most popular party overall after the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party. Ulmanis, who was a member of the party, banned all political parties after his coup, including the LZS. As Latvia was subsequently occupied during the course of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the party was dormant until it reformed in 1990 when Latvia regained its independence. Immediately after the restoration of independence, there existed several groups competing at elections to claim the legacy of the pre-war LZS. Since 2002 it has been part of the Union of Greens and Farmers (''ZZS'') coalition, which it formed along with the Latvian Green Party. The coalition also included the For Latvia and Ventspils and the Liepāja Party, who had cooperation agreements with the party allowing their members to be elected to 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 ...

on the list of the Union of Greens and Farmers. From

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

to 2019 the party had one

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, Iveta Grigule, who ultimately sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats group, having previously sat with the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group and as a Non-Attached Member. The Green Party and the Liepāja Party left the ZZS in June 2022, but were replaced by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party.

Election results

Legislative elections

European Parliament elections

Symbols and logos

File:Latvian Farmers Union logo.png, Old logo

References

External links

* {{Authority control Agrarian parties in Latvia Centrist parties in Latvia Conservative parties in Latvia Formerly banned political parties Political parties of the Russian Revolution Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union