Union of Greens and Farmers
| Union of Greens and Farmers Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Raimonds Vējonis (LZP) |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Riga |
| Ideology | Agrarianism Green politics Soft euroscepticism |
| Political position | Centre[1] |
| National affiliation | Latvian Farmers' Union Green Party of Latvia |
| International affiliation | Global Greens (LZP) |
| European affiliation | European Green Party (LZP) |
| European Parliament Group | No MEPs |
| Official colours | Green |
| Saeima |
13 / 100
|
| European Parliament |
0 / 8
|
| Website | |
| www.zzs.lv | |
| Politics of Latvia Political parties Elections |
|
Union of Greens and Farmers (Latvian: Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība, abbreviated ZZS) is a green/agrarian and conservative political alliance in Latvia. It consists of two political parties: Latvian Farmers' Union (Latvian: Latvijas Zemnieku Savienība) and the Green Party of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Zaļā Partija). It is the third-largest party in the Saeima.
In contrast to the mostly left-wing green political movement in Western and Central Europe, ZZS is a centre alliance. While the alliance's formal leader is Raimonds Vējonis, its leading figure and chief financial supporter is Aivars Lembergs.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
The alliance was established before the 2002 parliamentary election. It ran on an ideologically amorphous agenda and won 12 out of 100 seats in the parliament. In March 2004, Indulis Emsis from the Green Party became the Prime Minister of Latvia.
On a European scale, the Green Party cooperates with the European Federation of Green Parties/European Free Alliance and the Farmer's Union cooperates with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. Before the European Parliament election, 2004, ZZS announced that, if its representative was elected, he would join one of the two groups, depending on which of the two Latvian parties he belonged to. ZZS failed to gather the 5% of votes necessary to gain a seat in European Parliament and thus no ZZS member was elected.
The alliance continued for the 2006 elections, and won 18 seats. It is part of the governing coalition, and green party chairman Indulis Emsis, who served as prime minister briefly in 2004, became speaker of parliament.
Lembergs was the candidate of The Union of Greens and Farmers for the position of Prime Minister in 2006, before being charged with corruption, fraud, bribery, money laundering and abuse of elected office on July 20, 2006. On March 14, 2007, Lembergs was detained by the Latvian authorities in relation to a criminal investigation.
[edit] Ideology
The alliance is based on similar sentimental feelings shared by the voters of the two parties. Latvians are supportive of traditional small farms and perceive them as more environmentally friendly than large-scale farming: Nature is threatened by development, while small farms are threatened by large industrial-scale farms. This perception has resulted in an alliance between green and farmer's parties, which is very rare in other countries.
The alliance is eurosceptic.[3] The party opposes granting all non-citizens Latvian citizenship or voting rights in local elections.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Tāre, Ineta (2010). Labour Law in Latvia. London: Kluwer Law International. pp. 15. ISBN 9789041133250. http://books.google.com/books?id=4Tzpczz0dQcC.
- ^ Goehring, Jeannette (2007). Nations in Transit 2007: Democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia. London: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 404. ISBN 9780932088260. http://books.google.com/books?id=drjJRxs2HRMC.
- ^ Stalker, Peter (2007). A Guide to Countries of the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780199202713. http://books.google.com/books?id=GtztAAAAMAAJ.
- ^ Extra, Guus; van Avermaet, Piet (2007). A Guide to Countries of the World. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9781847063458. http://books.google.com/books?id=RPa8RSPa-6EC.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||
