Saeima
| Saeima | |
|---|---|
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|
| Type | |
| Type | Unicameral |
| Leadership | |
| Speaker | Solvita Āboltiņa, Unity since 2010 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 100 |
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|
| Political groups | Harmony Centre (31) Unity (20) Zatlers' Reform Party (16) National Alliance (14) Union of Greens and Farmers (13) Non-attached (6) |
| Elections | |
| Voting system | Open list proportional representation with a 5% election threshold |
| Last election | 17 September 2011 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Riga | |
| Website | |
| www.saeima.lv | |
| Latvia |
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Saeima
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Other countries · Atlas Politics portal |
Saeima is the parliament of the 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 popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in September 2011.
The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On May 28, 2011, president Valdis Zatlers decided to initiate the dissolution of the current Saeima, which was to be decided in a referendum. The Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011.[1]
The current Speaker of the Saeima is Solvita Āboltiņa.
The word "Saeima" meaning "a gathering, a meeting, a council" was constructed by the Young Latvian Juris Alunāns. It stems from the archaic Latvian word eima meaning "to go" (derived from the PIE *ei "to go" and also a cognate with the Ancient Greek eimi, Gaulish eimu among others) [2]
Deputies are elected to represent one of five constituencies: Kurzeme (13 deputies), Latgale (15), Riga (30), Vidzeme (27), and Zemgale (15). Seats are distributed in each constituency by open list proportional representation among the parties that overcome a 5% national election threshold.
Contents |
[edit] Results
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harmony Centre | 259,930 | 28.36% | +1.75% | 31 | +2 | |
| Zatlers' Reform Party | 190,853 | 20.82% | New | 22 | New | |
| Unity | 172,567 | 18.83% | −13.07% | 20 | −13 | |
| National Alliance | 127,208 | 13.88% | +6.05% | 14 | +6 | |
| Union of Greens and Farmers | 111,955 | 12.22% | –7.90% | 13 | –9 | |
| Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way | 22,131 | 2.41% | –5.40% | 0 | –8 | |
| For Human Rights in United Latvia | 7,109 | 0.78% | –0.69% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Last Party (Pēdējā partija) | 4,471 | 0.49% | –0.41% | 0 | ±0 | |
| For a Presidential Republic (Par prezidentālu republiku) | 2,881 | 0.31% | –0.44% | 0 | ±0 | |
| People's Control (Tautas kontrole) | 2,573 | 0.28% | –0.14% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party | 2,531 | 0.28% | –0.37% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Freedom. Free from Fear, Hate and Anger (Brīvība. Brīvs no bailēm, naida un dusmām) | 2,011 | 0.22% | New | 0 | New | |
| Christian Democratic Union | 1,994 | 0.22% | –0.15% | 0 | ±0 | |
| Invalid | 1,211 | |||||
| Total | 917,680 | 100% | 100 | |||
| Turnout: 59.49% Source: Central Election Commission of Latvia |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Zatlers nolemj rosināt Saeimas atlaišanu [Zatlers decides to initiate thedissolution of the Saeima]" (in Latvian). Delfi. May 28, 2011. http://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/zatlers-nolemj-atlaist-saeimu.d?id=38755691. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
- ^ Zuicena, Ieva; Migla, Ilga (2008). "Jura Alunāna devums latviešu leksikogrāfijā" (in Latvian) (PDF). LU Raksti 731: 75. ISSN 1407-2157. http://www.lu.lv/materiali/apgads/raksti/731.pdf#page=75. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
