The Reform Party ( lv, Reformu partija), until April 2012 known as Zatlers' Reform Party ( lv, Zatlera Reformu partija, links=no, ZRP), was a centre-right political party in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

founded by former President Valdis Zatlers on 23 July 2011. It won 22 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 po ...

in the 2011 election.

History

On 9 July 2011, Zatlers announced that he would found the party on 23 July 2011; the same day as the country's first parliamentary dissolution referendum. The party was founded on 23 July and Zatlers was elected its chairman by 251 votes to 2. Zatlers announced that the party would not cooperate with the three 'oligarch' parties – the Union of Greens and Farmers, Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way, and the People's Party. A survey suggested that 33% of voters would support the new party, and as of July 2011, 17.5% would vote for them, while 52% were certain that the party would receive seats in the Saeima. By September 2011, over 1000 people had applied to join the party.Apollo – Ziņas: Zatlera Reformu partijā pieteikušies vairāk nekā 1000 cilvēku
. Apollo.lv. Retrieved 19 September 2011. the core of the party was formed by 15–20 members. The party drafted 10 working principles, and invited discussion on these principles from anyone who applied for membership. At the 2011 parliamentary election, the party won 22 seats, making it the second-largest party, behind the Harmony Centre alliance. It agreed to form a coalition with Unity, and after negotiations, the National Alliance, with Valdis Dombrovskis to continue as Prime Minister and Zatlers to be Speaker of the Saeima. On 17 October 2011, Zatlers failed to be elected Speaker as had been agreed, and Unity's Solvita Āboltiņa was re-elected instead. Six ZRP MPs – Klāvs Olšteins, Elīna Siliņa, Gunārs Rusiņš, Jānis Upenieks, Viktors Valainis, and Jānis Junkurs – left the party to become

non-attached members Non-Inscrits (; abbreviated NI; also non-attached members, abbreviated NA) are Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who do not belong to one of the recognised political groups. These MEPs may be members of a national party, or of a Europ ...

. In April 2012 the party dropped references to its founder from its name and became known simply as the ''Reform party''. For the 2014 general election, the Reform Party announced an electoral pact with its government coalition partner Unity. In March 2015 the party began the formal process of disbanding and most of its core base was absorbed by Unity. The liquidation process concluded in April 2020.

History

Election results

Parliament (''Saeima'')

References

External links