Latvian Farmers' Union

The Latvian Farmers' Union (Latvian: Latvijas Zemnieku savienība,[4] LZS) is an agrarian-nationalist[5] political party in Latvia. It is considered to be as the oldest existing political party of Latvia. Since 2002, the party has formed the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) in cooperation with the Latvian Green Party.[6]

Latvian Farmers' Union

Latvijas Zemnieku savienība
LeaderAugusts Brigmanis
Founded1917 (original foundation, banned 1934), re-established 1990
HeadquartersRiga
Membership (2017)1,464[1]
IdeologyAgrarianism[2]
Soft Euroscepticism
Political positionCentre[2]
National affiliationUnion of Greens and Farmers
European Parliament groupAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[3] (2015-19)
ColoursGreen, White
Saeima
9 / 100
European Parliament
1 / 9
Website
www.lzs.lv

History

Founded in 1917, the party was the most influential conservative party in Latvia in the period from Independence in 1918 until the self-coup led by Kārlis Ulmanis in 1934, and the second most popular party overall after the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party. Ulmanis, who was a member of the party, banned all political parties after his coup including the LZS. As Latvia was subsequently occupied during the course of the Second World War, the party was dormant until it reformed in 1990 when Latvia regained its independence. Immediately after the restoration of independence, there existed several groups competing at elections to claim the legacy of the pre-war LZS. Since 2002 it has been part of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) coalition, along with the Latvian Green Party. The coalition now includes For Latvia and Ventspils and the Liepāja Party, who have cooperation agreements with the party allowing their members to be elected to the Saeima on the list of the Union of Greens and Farmers. The coalition faction is currently the third largest in the Saeima and the LZS has 9 out of the 21 seats it holds. Since May 2014 the party has had one member of the European Parliament, Iveta Grigule, who sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats group, having previously sat with the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group and as a Non-Attached Member.[3]

Election results

Parliament (Saeima)
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
1920 126,434 17.8
26 / 150
1922 132,764 16.8
17 / 100
 9
1925 125,070 15.0
16 / 100
 1
1928 139,173 15.0
16 / 100
 0
1931 118,443 12.2
14 / 100
 2
Banned 1934-1990 under Ulmanis and the Latvian SSR
1993 119,116 10.7
12 / 100
 4
1995[lower-alpha 1] 60 498 6.4
8 / 100
 4
1998 23,732 2.5
0 / 100
 8
2002[lower-alpha 2] 93,759 9.5
9 / 100
 9
2006[lower-alpha 3] 151,595 16.8
14 / 100
 5
2010[lower-alpha 4] 190,025 20.1
18 / 100
 4
2011[lower-alpha 5] 111,955 12.2
9 / 100
 9
2014[lower-alpha 6] 178,210 19.5
15 / 100
 6
2018[lower-alpha 7] 83,675 9.91
9 / 100
 6
  1. Seats divided between list of the LZS and the Christian Democratic Union
  2. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 12 seats
  3. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 18 seats
  4. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 22 seats
  5. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 13 seats
  6. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 21 seats
  7. Union of Greens and Farmers list won 11 seats
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References
  1. "Latvijā partijās daudzkārt mazāk biedru nekā Lietuvā un Igaunijā. Kāpēc tā?" (in Latvian). LSM.lv. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018.
  3. "Liberals and Democrats adopt Latvia's stray MEP". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  4. "Latvijas Zemnieku savienības programma (Programme of the Latvian Farmers' Union)". lzs.lv (in Latvian). 2018-03-24. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  5. David J. Galbreath; Daunis Auers (2010). "Green, Black and Brown: Uncovering Latvia's Environmental Politics". In David J. Galbreath (ed.). Contemporary Environmentalism in the Baltic States: From Phosphate Springs to 'Nordstream'. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-317-96590-9.
  6. Miranda Schreurs; Elim Papadakis, eds. (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Green Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-5381-1960-0.


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