Latvian Way
라트비아의 길
A right-liberal Latvian party that began as an electoral union in 1993 and was founded as a party on 25 September that year. It came first in the election to the Fifth Saeima in 1993 and took part in every coalition government from 1993 to 2002, providing more prime ministers and ministers than any other party. After failing to enter the Saeima in 2002, it merged with Latvia's First Party in August 2007 to form LPP/LC.
In depth
Latvian Way began when, ahead of the election to the Fifth Saeima, a secret consultative meeting at the Jūrmala hotel on 13 February 1993 agreed to create an electoral bloc. Of its 154 founding members a third were deputies of the Supreme Council faction 'Satversme', made up mainly of former Popular Front of Latvia figures, and many were exiled Latvians, chiefly from the World Federation of Free Latvians. The party considered itself a representative of liberal ideology, and its 2001 programme called it liberal-conservative.
In the June 1993 election it won 32.4 percent and 36 of the 100 seats, becoming the leading party of the coalition government, and Anatolijs Gorbunovs was elected Speaker of the Saeima. Its first chairman was Valdis Birkavs; after the Latvian Farmers' Union left his government (1993–1994), the government of Māris Gailis (1994–1995) followed. It won 14.6 percent (17 seats) in 1995 and 18.0 percent (21 seats) in 1998, and Vilis Krištopans (1998–1999) and Andris Bērziņš (2000–2002) were also prime ministers from the party.
In the election to the Eighth Saeima in 2002 it won 4.9 percent and failed to pass the 5 percent threshold; the source says many members and observers linked this to a leaflet scandal smearing the People's Party shortly before the vote. It won one seat with 6.5 percent in the 2004 European Parliament election and returned to the Saeima in 2006 on a joint list with Latvia's First Party. Latvian Way ceased to exist in August 2007, when the two parties merged into LPP/LC.
Its chairmen were Valdis Birkavs, Andrejs Panteļējevs (1997–2000), Andris Bērziņš (2000–2003), Jānis Naglis (2003–2004) and Ivars Godmanis (2004–2007). Membership grew from 154 at its founding to 890 in 1999 and 1,380 in 2001.