Latvia's Ruling United List Wins With 35% as Turnout Falls to 50.8%
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs's party is far ahead of the 'Trumpist' Latvia First, which took second. The Greens and Farmers Union lost every seat in parliament.
Latvia's ruling United List won Saturday's parliamentary election by a wide margin, giving Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs a strong mandate in a Baltic state on the front line of Europe's confrontation with Russia.
With nearly all votes counted, the United List took 35.3 percent. Latvia First, which Latvian public broadcaster LSM described as "Trumpist," placed second with 13.1 percent. The Sovereign Power/Union of New Latvians list got 11.8 percent, the National Alliance 9 percent, the Progressives 7.4 percent and New Unity 6.3 percent. Six lists cleared the threshold to enter the 15th Saeima.
The biggest casualty was the Greens and Farmers Union, known as ZZS. The party lost every one of its seats, along with the ministries and the Speaker's post it held. New Unity, which was the largest party in the previous coalition, fell to being the smallest of the likely governing parties. The Progressives lost a seat even though they had hoped to gain.
LSM's analysis said the size of the United List's win suggests it should be quite straightforward to form a three-party, right-of-centre coalition. Such a government would be expected to keep Latvia's strong support for Ukraine while avoiding far-right positions. The party's win also strengthens Kulbergs's hand in coalition talks, since he will not need to rely on a partner that can dictate terms.
Turnout was the weak point. Only 50.8 percent of eligible voters took part, down 6.2 percentage points from the 2022 election. The LSM analyst called the figure "embarrassing" and a possible sign of weakening democratic engagement. Low turnout is a recurring concern in Latvia, where many voters have grown cynical about government turnover.
The analysis also flagged the strength of parties friendly to Moscow, which together drew about 24 percent, similar to the support the old Harmony party once commanded among Latvia's Russian-speaking minority. For a country that borders Russia and Belarus, any rise in that vote draws attention in Riga and in Brussels.
The Central Election Commission earned praise for how it ran the vote. It communicated better with the public, extended early voting, and put security measures in place against foreign interference, a priority for the Baltic states.
Latvia is a member of both the European Union and NATO, and hosts allied troops as part of the alliance's eastern defense. Continuity in Riga means continuity in defense spending and aid to Kyiv. What Kulbergs does with a bigger majority, and whether turnout recovers in future elections, are the open questions.
