Socialist Party of Latvia
Latvijas Sociālistiskā partija
Социалистическая партия Латвии
AbbreviationLSP
LeaderVladimirs Frolovs
FounderFilips Stroganovs
Founded15 January 1994 (1994-01-15)[1]
Registered14 March 1994 (1994-03-14)
Preceded byCommunist Party of Latvia
HeadquartersCitadeles iela 2, Riga
NewspaperLatvijas Socialists
IdeologyCommunism
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationForHRUL (2002–2005),
Harmony Centre (2005–2010),
Social Democratic Party "Harmony" (since 2010)
Regional affiliationCPSU (2001)
European affiliationINITIATIVE
International affiliationIMCWP
European Parliament groupNon-Inscrits
Colours  Red
Saeima
0 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Riga City Council
1 / 60
Website
socparty.lv

The Socialist Party of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Sociālistiskā partija, abbr. LSP; Russian: Социалистическая партия Латвии) is a communist party in Latvia.[2] It is positioned on the far-left on the political spectrum.[3]

It was formed in 1994 as a successor party to the Communist Party of Latvia, which was banned in 1991. According to the "programme of the party", the LSP was founded as an organization upholding socialist ideas after the 1991 events that the party describes as a "counter-revolutionary bourgeois-nationalist coup".[4]

Overview

The current CEOs of the party are Bokišs Fridijs, Burlaks Ingars and Frolovs Vladimirs.[5] Between 1999 and 2015, the position was held by Alfrēds Rubiks, once mayor of Riga and later, leader of the unionist movement and head of the Latvian Communist Party (CPSU platform). He was imprisoned for six years in 1991, on charges of participating in a coup d'état against the Latvian authorities in August 1991. He is not one of the party's members in the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) since he is not allowed to contest elections. However, his sons Artūrs Rubiks and Raimonds Rubiks are members of the Saeima representing the Socialist Party, elected on a joint list with Harmony.

The LSP is more popular among the Russian-speaking population of Latvia. It places a high priority on issues important to ethnic Russians, such as language and citizenship laws. The party also believes that Latvian citizenship should be granted to all citizens of the former USSR living in Latvia in 1990. This would entail a major change in the current law, which only gives automatic citizenship to descendants of people who were citizens of the Republic of Latvia before it was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, and requires the Soviet citizens who moved to Latvia between 1940 and 1990 (mainly Russians), to go through a naturalization process.

In the election held on 5 October 2002, the party was part of the For Human Rights in United Latvia (Latvian: Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā) coalition that won 19.0% of the popular vote and 25 out of 100 seats, 5 of those seats went to Socialist Party. The party was a member of this alliance of predominantly Russian-speaking parties from 1998 to 2003.

Today, the party's platform is centered on anti-corruption and promoting an independent Latvia that is outside the European Union. In 2005, the LSP entered the Harmony Centre coalition, which won 17 seats in the 2006 election. Four of these 17 parliament members were representatives of the Socialist Party. In 2011, HC won 31 seats, with the Socialists receiving three seats (Artūrs Rubiks, Raimonds Rubiks and Igors Zujevs).[6] The party did not contest the 2014 parliamentary election, however, all three of its outgoing MPs were placed on the SDPS list and were members of the "12th Saeima" (2014–2018). The same strategy was used in the 2018 election,[7] but only Artūrs Rubiks was elected.[8] The party gained a seat within the Harmony list for the 2020 Riga City Council election, with Artūrs Rubiks' older brother Raimonds Rubiks being elected.

Election results

Legislative elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
1995 Filips Stroganovs 53,325 5.61 New
5 / 100
 New 9th Opposition
1998 135,700 14.20
(ForHRUL-TSP[lower-alpha 1])		 Increase 8.59
4 / 100
 Decrease 1 Increase 4th Opposition
2002 Alfrēds Rubiks 189,088 19.09
(ForHRUL[lower-alpha 2])		 Increase 4.89
5 / 100
 Increase 1 Increase 2nd Opposition
2006 130,887 14.52
(Harmony Centre[lower-alpha 3])		 Decrease 4.57
4 / 100
 Decrease 1 Decrease 4th Opposition
2010 251,400 26.61
(Harmony Centre[lower-alpha 4])		 Increase 12.09
4 / 100
 Steady 0 2nd Opposition
2011 259,930 28.62
(Harmony Centre[lower-alpha 5])		 Increase 2.01
3 / 100
 Decrease 1 Increase 1st Opposition
2014 209,887 23.15
(Saskaņa[lower-alpha 6])		 Decrease 5.47
2 / 100
 Decrease 1 Steady 1st Opposition
2018 Vladimirs Frolovs 167,117 19.92
(Saskaņa[lower-alpha 7])		 Decrease 3.23
1 / 100
 Decrease 1 Steady 1st Opposition
  1. ↑ For Human Rights in United Latvia list won 16 seats – 6 went to TSP – 5 to Equal Rights – 4 to LSP – 1 to KP
  2. ↑ For Human Rights in United Latvia list won 25 seats – 12 went to TSP – 8 to Equal Rights – 5 to LSP
  3. ↑ Harmony Centre list won 17 seats – 11 went to TSP – 4 to LSP – 2 to JC – 1 to DPP
  4. ↑ Harmony Centre list won 29 seats – 24 went to SDPS – 4 went to SPL – 1 to DPP
  5. ↑ Harmony Centre list won 31 seats – 28 went to SDPS – 3 went to the SPL
  6. ↑ SDPS list won 24 seats – 21 went to SDPS – 2 went to the SPL – 1 went to the GKR
  7. ↑ SDPS list won 23 seats – 21 went to SDPS – 1 went to the SPL – 1 went to the GKR

European Parliament elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank EP Group
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2004 Alfrēds Rubiks 9,480 1.66 New
0 / 8
 New 12th –
2009 154,894 19.93
(Harmony Centre[lower-alpha 1])		 Increase 18.27
1 / 8
 Increase 1 Increase 2nd GUE-NGL
2014 57,863 13.14
(Saskaņa[lower-alpha 2])		 Decrease 6.79
0 / 8
 Decrease 1 Decrease 3rd –
2019 Vladimirs Frolovs 57,863 17.56
(Saskaņa[lower-alpha 3])		 Increase 4.42
0 / 8
 Steady 1 Increase 2nd –
  1. ↑ Harmony Centre list won 2 seats – 1 went to TSP – 1 to LSP
  2. ↑ SDPS list won 1 seat – 1 went to SDPS
  3. ↑ SDPS list won 2 seats – 1 went to SDPS – 1 went to the GKR

References

  1. ↑ "История партии". socparty.lv. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  2. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2011). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
  3. ↑ March, Luke (2008). Contemporary Far Left Parties in Europe (PDF). Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. p. 3. ISBN 978-3-86872-000-6.
  4. ↑ http://www.latsocpartija.lv/userfiles/LSP%20programma%202005%20RU%281%29.pdf
  5. ↑ "Latvijas Sociālistiskā partija".
  6. ↑ Sociālisti 11.Saeimā Archived 2018-10-07 at the Wayback Machine(in Latvian)
  7. ↑ "Jāpārskata izglītības sistēmas reformas!". Latvijas Sociālistiskā partija. Archived from the original on 2018-10-07. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  8. ↑ "13TH SAEIMA ELECTIONS – Elected member alphabetical list". Central Election Commission of Latvia. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
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