This article gives an overview of liberalism in

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 ...

. It is limited to liberal

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 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 ...

. 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

nations which adopted some ideas from the 1919

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

. German liberal 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 it ...

, which historian

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

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

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

s agree that Weimar Constitution was underlying the wording of the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia (, ) is the fundamental law of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The Satversme is the oldest Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-functioning repu ...

(''Satversme''), and in some way is a synthesis between the Weimar Constitution and

Westminster system The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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. The current major liberal party is the centre-right Unity, which is also a member of the alliance

New Unity The New Unity (, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia. Its members are Unity and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism and liberalism. History Before the 2018 Latvian parliamentary ele ...

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 and a dictator. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from N ...

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 Jānis Kristaps Čakste (; 14 September 1859 – 14 March 1927) was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the Tautas Padome, People's Council (1918–1920), the Speaker o ...

and

Gustavs Zemgals Gustavs Zemgals (12 August 1871 – 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 in the Courland Governorate (now Tukums Municipality, Latvia). H ...

. *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 Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly cor ...

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 Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

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'' formed the Latvia's Way (''Latvijas Ceļš'') *2006: Latvia's Way forged an alliance with the

Latvia's First Party The Latvia's First Party () 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 25 May 2002, led by Ēriks J ...

, 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 The New Era Party (, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011. New Era was a member of the European People's Party (EPP), and ...

(''Jaunais laiks'') was formed. *2008:

Society for Political Change The Society for Political Change (, SCP) was a social-liberal political party in Latvia founded on 6 September 2008. Its members include two former ministers, former foreign minister Artis Pabriks and former economics minister Aigars Štokenber ...

(''Sabiedrība Citai Politikai'') was formed. *2010: JL, SCP and the conservative ⇒ Civic Union formed an electoral alliance called ''-' Unity (''Vienotība''). *2011: Unity became a political party. *2011:

Zatlers' Reform Party The Reform Party (), formerly known as Zatlers' Reform Party (, ZRP) until April 2012, was a centre-right political party in Latvia founded by former President Valdis Zatlers on 23 July 2011. It won 22 seats in the Saeima in the 2011 election. ...

(''Zatlera Reformu Partija'') was formed. *2015: ZRP merged into Unity. *2018: Unity formed with regional parties

(''Jaunā Vienotība'').

For Latvia's Development

*2013: Political party

For Latvia's Development For Latvia's Development (, abbr. LA) is a classical liberal political party in Latvia. It is positioned on the centre-right on the political spectrum. From 2018 to 2022 it was one of the members of the Development/For! alliance, before it ''de ...

(''Latvijas attīstībai'') founded by Einārs Repše *2014:

Juris Pūce Juris Pūce (born 22 January 1980, in Riga) is a Latvian economist, lawyer, and politician. Former Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia in the government of Krisjanis Karins and chairman of the board of the ...

was elected as the new chairperson. Party became a member of ALDE (the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

) *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 (, 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 Smiltēns. History The alliance won 8 ...

*2017:

Movement For! Movement For! () is a liberal political party in Latvia.Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) was a liberal political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicia ...

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

Izaugsme Growth () is a centrist political party in 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 ...

Liberal leaders

*Demokrātiskais Centrs:

* Latvian Development:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberalism In Latvia

Politics of Latvia