Unity (Latvia)
Unity Vienotība | |
---|---|
centre-right | |
National affiliation | New Unity |
European affiliation | European People's Party |
European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
Colours | Green |
Saeima | 23 / 100 |
European Parliament | 3 / 8 |
Riga City Council | 9 / 60 |
Mayors | 3 / 43 |
Website | |
vienotiba | |
Unity
It was formed in 2010 as an electoral alliance and in 2011, it was registered as a political party. It was the leading party in Valdis Dombrovskis and Laimdota Straujuma's cabinets from its inception in 2010 until February 2016. Since its foundation, the party took part to all the country's coalition government, and it is a member of the incumbent coalition government since January 2019, with its member Evika Siliņa as Prime Minister of Latvia. Unity is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).[9]
History
Origins, governing, and coalition party (2010–2018)
The party was founded as an
The alliance, led by incumbent Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis from New Era, achieved a victory in the 2010 parliamentary election, despite the austerity measures enacted by his cabinet during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Unity led the coalition with ZZS as junior partner until 2011.[12][13]
On 6 August 2011 the alliance was transformed into a single political party.[14] In the 2011 snap elections, the party came in third, but held on to the PM post in a coalition with the Zatlers' Reform Party and the National Alliance.
After five years in office, Valdis Dombrovskis resigned as PM after the Zolitūde tragedy in early 2014. He was succeeded by party colleague Laimdota Straujuma, who brought ZZS back into her coalition. For the 2014 general election, Unity announced an electoral pact with the Reform Party, which was later followed by a full absorption in March 2015.[15] The party improved on its previous result, coming in second at the polls and gaining 3 extra seats.
The second Straujuma cabinet lasted only for about a year. After the demise of the Straujuma cabinet in late 2015, the party suffered from internal conflicts (e.g. the polarising actions and statements of then party board chair Solvita Āboltiņa) and defections of MPs to other political parties, undermining its ratings.[16][17][18][19] Nevertheless, it remained as the largest parliamentary party in the ZZS-led Kučinskis cabinet and it held 5 ministerial portfolios from early 2016 to 2018.
New Unity alliance and Kariņš government (2018–present)
After the
Election results
Legislative elections
Election | Leader | Performance | Rank | Government | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | ± pp | Seats | +/– | ||||
2010 | Valdis Dombrovskis | 301,429 | 31.90 | New | 33 / 100
|
New | 1st | Coalition |
2011 | 172,563 | 19.00 | 12.90 | 20 / 100
|
13 | 3rd | Coalition | |
2014 | Laimdota Straujuma | 199,535 | 22.01 | 3.01 | 23 / 100
|
3 | 2nd | Coalition |
2018[a] | Krišjānis Kariņš | 56,542 | 6.74 | 15.27 | 7 / 100
|
16 | 7th | Coalition |
2022[b] | 173,425 | 19.19 | 12.45 | 23 / 100
|
16 | 1st | Coalition |
- ^ The New Unity list won 8 seats; 7 went to Unity and 1 to the Latgale Party
- ^ The New Unity list won 26 seats; 23 went to Unity, 1 to For Kuldīga Municipality, 1 to For Valmiera and Vidzeme and 1 to an independent
European Parliament
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Valdis Dombrovskis | 204,979 | 46.56 (#1) | 4 / 8
|
|
2019[a] | 124,193 | 26.40 (#1) | 2 / 8
|
2 |
Symbols and logos
-
Old logo
See also
References
- ^ "Vienotiba/Youth". www.jaunavienotiba.lv. Unity. 13 March 2015.
- ^ "What's up with Latvia's feeble civic engagement?". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Legal entity". Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-352-00014-6.
- ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 4)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ "New leader at the helm of Unity party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ "New leader of Latvia's Unity party calls for reconciliation among members, fresh start". The Baltic Times. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ "Latvia: PM Krisjanis Karins delivers a stable government for the Latvian people". European People's Party. 23 January 2019.
- ^ Unity has potential, but faces rocky road Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Latviansonline.com (14 March 2010). Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
- ^ Harmony Centre is Most Popular Latvian Party | Angus Reid Public Opinion Archived 9 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Angus-reid.com. Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
- ^ ""Unity" tops Latvian elections". The Baltic Times. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ Kolyako, Nina (3 October 2010). "Unity wins elections in Latvia". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ Apollo – Ziņas: Izveidota partija «Vienotība» Archived 8 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Apollo.lv. Retrieved on 19 September 2011.
- ^ 'Vienotība' un RP vienojas par kopīgu startu 12.Saeimas vēlēšanās, LETA, 27 December 2013, accessed 21 September 2014
- ^ "Kampars: Unity is accused of not taking interest in society's woes aka the arrogance created by Āboltiņa's symbol". Baltic News Network. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ "Unpopular MP booted from Unity party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ "Political expert: Unity will not disappear just yet". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ Kaža, Juris (14 August 2018). "Who is who in upcoming Latvian parliamentary elections". Re:Baltica. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^ "Latvia gets a new government led by Krišjānis Kariņš". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "The Saeima approves the government formed by Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš". The Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Parliament approves Latvia's new coalition government". Xinhua News Agency. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Latvia's Karins confirmed as PM, ending lengthy political deadlock". Reuters. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2021.