At stake in this election:

• 100 seats in the Parliament (Saeima)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vaira VIKE-FREIBERGA *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Aigars KALVITIS
• Assembly: Latvia has a unicameral Parliament (Saeima) with 100 seats.

* The President is elected by indirect vote in the Parliament to serve a 4-year term for a maximum of two mandates.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by indirect vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Parliament (Saeima) 100 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** A threshold of 5% is required in order for a party to enter the parliament.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: People's Party (TP)
  • Leader: Atis SLAKTERIS
  • Seats won in this election: 23
  • Seats won in last election: 21
• Party: Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS)
  • Leader: Augusts BRIGMANIS
  • Seats won in this election: 18
  • Seats won in last election: 12
• Party: New Era Party (JL)
  • Leader: Karlis SADURSKIS
  • Seats won in this election: 18
  • Seats won in last election: 26
• Alliance: Harmony Centre (SC)****
  • Leader: Nils USAKOVS
  • Seats won in this election: 17
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Coalition: First Party of Latvia (LPP) and Latvian Way (LC)*****
  • Leader: Ainars SLESERS (LPP) and Ivars GODMANIS (LC)
  • Seats won in this election: 10
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Party: For Fatherland and Freedom/Latvian National Independence Movement (TB/LNNK)
  • Leader: Janis STRAUME
  • Seats won in this election: 8
  • Seats won in last election: 7
• Party: For Human Rights in Unified Latvia (PCTVL)
  • Leader: Tatjana ZDANOKA, Jakovs PLINERS
  • Seats won in this election: 6
  • Seats won in last election: 24

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 2,218,357 (2006)
• Registered Voters: 1,490,636 (2006)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,202,476 (2006)

·         Is Latvia a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Latvia ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (14 April 1992)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 19 (following the 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 46 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Latvia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (18 July 2008)

·         Has Latvia ratified CRPD: Yes (1 March 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 332,753 (est.)