New Unity

The New Unity (Latvian: Jaunā Vienotība, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia.[1] Its members are Unity, the Latgale Party and four other regional parties, and it is orientated towards liberal-conservatism[2] and liberalism.[3]

New Unity
Jaunā Vienotība
AbbreviationJV
LeaderKrišjānis Kariņš
Founded23 April 2018 (2018-04-23)
HeadquartersZigfrīds Anna Meierovics Boulevard 12-3, Riga LV-1050
Youth wingVienotības Jaunatnes organizācija
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Members
  • Unity
  • Latgale Party
  • For Kuldīga Municipality
  • For Valmiera and Vidzeme
  • Jēkabpils Regional Party
Colours  Green
  Blue
  Light green
Saeima
11 / 100
European Parliament
2 / 8
Riga City Council
10 / 60
Mayors
5 / 43
Website
jaunavienotiba.lv

History

Before the 2018 Latvian parliamentary elections the Unity party formed the New Unity party alliance (the party itself is still registered as Unity)[4] in April 2018 together with the regional For Kuldīga Municipality, For Valmiera and Vidzeme and For Tukums City and Municipality parties, joined by the Jēkabpils Regional Party in June.[5][6]

The Latgale Party, a previous partner of Unity that had run on its list in the past, initially was uncertain whether to join the alliance, since a faction of the party supported a partnership with the Latvian Association of Regions,[7] ended up ultimately signing a cooperation agreement in July.[8] An offer to join the list was also extended to the liberal Movement For! and the centre-left Progressives, but both parties eventually declined.[9][10]

While the JV list performed poorly at the 2018 elections, surpassing the 5% threshold by only 1.7% and becoming the smallest party in the newly elected parliament, the subsequent failure of the candidates for PM from the New Conservative Party and KPV LV to form a government by early January 2019 urged the President of Latvia, Raimonds Vējonis, to offer the opportunity to JV's candidate, former MEP Krišjānis Kariņš. The Kariņš cabinet, consisting of JV, the New Conservatives, KPV LV, Development/For!, the National Alliance was approved by the Saeima on 23 January 2019.[11][12][13] Alongside the Prime Minister's office, the alliance controls two ministries: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

Election results

Legislative elections
Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2018 Krišjānis Kariņš 56,542 6.74 New
8 / 100
 New 7th Coalition

European Parliament elections
Election Party leader Performance Rank EP Group
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2019 Valdis Dombrovskis 124,193 26.40 New
2 / 8
 New 1st EPP

See also

References
  1. "Political structure of Latvia". Economist Intelligence. 1 May 2021.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Parties and Elections in Europe". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  3. "Parliamentary elections in Latvia: the fragmentation of the political scene". Centre for Eastern Studies. 10 October 2018.
  4. "Legal entity". Uzņēmumu reģistra tīmekļvietne. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  5. "Unity may become New Unity; Kariņš may become prime minister candidate". Baltic News Network. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  6. DELFI (2018-06-16). "'Jaunajai Vienotībai' pievienojas Jēkabpils reģionālā partija". DELFI (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  7. Egle, Ināra (2018-05-23). "Latgales partija ir apjukusi ("The Latgale Party is confused")". Diena. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  8. "New Unity and Latgales party announce joint start at 13th Saeima elections". Baltic News Network. 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  9. 'Jaunā Vienotība' iesniedz deputātu kandidātu sarakstu; Kariņš un Straujuma nestartē Delfi
  10. ""Par!" neiesaistīsies "Vienotības" piedāvātajā apvienībā ar reģionu partijām". Valmieras Ziņas (in Latvian). 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  11. "The Saeima approves the government formed by Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš". The Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  12. "Parliament approves Latvia's new coalition government". Xinhua News Agency. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  13. "Latvia gets a new government led by Krišjānis Kariņš". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
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