The Progressives (Latvia)

The Progressives (Latvian: Progresīvie, Latvian: ['pɾɔgɾesiːviɛ]) is a social-democratic political party in Latvia.[3] The party was founded on February 25, 2017. Since September 14, 2019 its leaders have been Antoņina Ņenaševa and Edmunds Cepurītis. The Progressives currently do not hold any seats in the Saeima or European Parliament.

The Progressives

Progresīvie
ChairpersonAntoņina Ņenaševa
Edmunds Cepurītis
General SecretaryMiroslavs Kodis[1]
FoundedFebruary 25, 2017 (2017-02-25)
HeadquartersErnesta Birznieka-Upīša iela 20, Riga
Membership (2019)~670[2]
IdeologySocial democracy
Environmentalism
Pro-Europeanism
European federalism
Progressivism
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
Colors     Red
     Green (Used in context of environmentalist policies)
Saeima
0 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Website
www.progresivie.lv

Ideology and goals

The Progressives have stated that one of their main goals is implementing the Nordic welfare model in Latvia (the party's political programme is even called "Turning towards the Nordic countries").[4] The party's principles include implementation of a progressive tax system, responsibility towards the environment, fighting against corruption and the shadow economy, an active state role in the economy, dropping GDP as the main measure of development (in favour of others which take the well-being of society into account such as the Happiness index), gender and LGBT equality.[5]

Nationality and Identity

The party wishes to abolish Latvia's non-citizen status,[6] held by over 10% of the national population,[7] by gradually granting non-citizens citizenship status. As an initial measure, the Progressives support a policy of automatically granting Latvian citizen to any child born to permanent residents, regardless of whether or not they have citizenship themselves or whether they were born before or after Latvia's independence. In addition, they want to immediately enfranchise permanent residents to vote in local elections after reaching the age of 16, even if they do not hold citizenship. The party is supportive of dual citizenship among the Latvian diaspora. It supports further state funding for Latvian-language education (as well as a 0% VAT on books published in Latvian) and the granting of free Latvian courses for returning migrants and asylum seekers, while at the same time also supporting minority languages in the school curriculum as a form of cultural diversity. They define themselves as inclusive and oppose ethic segregation and discrimination.[6]

Foreign Policy

The Progressives subscribe to a Pro-Europeanist ideology and support Latvia's membership in NATO. They are in favour of an EU army and believe that the EU should become a United Nations Security Council permanent member state, while at the same time desiring to abolish permanent members' singular veto power.[6]

They condemn what they dub the "aggressive policy of the Russian ruling regime", while at the same time expressing a desire for improved relations with both Russia and Belarus, which they opine would happen trough "democratic processes" in these nations.[6] They do not recognize the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and call for an investigation into what they dub as "human rights violations in Russian-occupied Crimea".[8]

Economy

The Progressives call on the Latvian state to abandon neoliberal economic policies and the "Russian-style" of restraint toward economic interventionism, instead calling for active state participation in the national economy. They are in favour of trade diversification aimed at reducing Latvia's dependance on Russian cargo and advocate for state funding for small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups and companies that adhere to their social and environmental criteria.[6]

History

The Progressives participated in the 2017 Latvian municipal elections in four municipalities. In two of these, Aizpute and Mārupe Municipality, they won seats on the local councils.

The Progressives participated in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election. Prior to the election, they declined to join an alliance with the center to right-wing liberal parties, which was later created without the Progressives as Development/For!.[9] They argued that staying out of the alliance was necessary to ensure that the party's left-wing policies and high standard for political donations were not compromised. The Progressives had a unique gender parity principle on their ballots, with all election list leaders being women.[10] Their candidate for Prime Minister was Roberts Putnis.[11] The party did not win any seats in the Saeima, receiving only 2.61% of the vote, but qualifying for state funding of €15,000 per year for surpassing the 2% threshold.[12]

In 2019, the Progressives participated in the European Parliament election. They ran with the slogan "More Europe" on a federalist platform, with their main proposals concerning social policy and green politics. Although polling at 4.5% in March[13] and 4.3% in April[14] they ultimately received only 2.9% of the vote. After the election, on 28 May, Roberts Putnis resigned as party leader.[15][16] That year they also organized a small protest against the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria in front of the Turkish embassy in Riga,[17] as well as pickets against a labour law reform that was deemed to degrade workers rights and weaken and labour unions.[8]

References
  1. "Partijas "Progresīvie" ģenerālsekretārs būs Eirovīzijas fanu kluba prezidents Kodis" (in Latvian). Skaties.lv. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  2. "The Progressive's tweet". Progresīvie, Twitter. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  3. "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 2)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. August 14, 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  4. "Vēsture" (in Latvian). Progresīvie. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  5. "Principles" (PDF). Progresīvie. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  6. "Programma – Partija Progresīvie" (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  7. Population of Latvia by nationality; Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs 1 January 2020.(in Latvian)
  8. "Politiskā partija "Progresīvie" rīkos piketu par darba ņēmēju tiesībām". ZZ.lv. 10 December 2018.
  9. "Progressive party rejects cooperation talks with For Latvia's Development party". Baltic News Network. February 28, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  10. "Latvian political party Progresīvie to nominate women as candidate list leaders". Baltic News Network. 16 July 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  11. "'Progressives' party announces Latvian prime ministerial candidate". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. June 19, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  12. Klūga, Māris (October 8, 2018). "Three of the smaller parties to get state funding". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  13. "Harmony, New Unity lead the way towards European elections". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. April 19, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  14. "Harmony still leads in Euro election polls despite taint of scandal". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  15. "Putnis to quit as leader of the Progressives after party's defeat in EP elections". The Baltic Times. May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  16. "Putnis to stand down as head of the Progressives". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. May 29, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  17. LETA (2019-10-21). "Foto: Cilvēki pie Turcijas vēstniecības Rīgā protestē pret agresiju Sīrijā". delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-07-01.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.