Latvian Farmers' Union

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Latvian Farmers' Union
Latvijas Zemnieku savienība
AbbreviationLZS
LeaderArmands Krauze
FounderKārlis Ulmanis (1917)
Jānis Kinna (1990)
Founded12 December 1917; 103 years ago (1917-12-12)[1] (original foundation)
5 July 1990; 31 years ago (1990-07-05) (re-established)
Banned16 May 1934; 87 years ago (1934-05-16)
HeadquartersRiga, Lielirbes iela 17a-29
Membership (2017)1,464[2]
IdeologyAgrarianism[3]
Latvian nationalism
Soft Euroscepticism
Political positionCentre[3] to centre-right
National affiliationUnion of Greens and Farmers
European Parliament groupEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy (2014)
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[4] (2015-19)
Colours  Green
  Yellow
  Light green
Saeima
5 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Mayors
7 / 43
Website
lzs.lv

The Latvian Farmers' Union (Latvian: Latvijas Zemnieku savienība,[5] LZS) is an agrarian-nationalist[6] 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.[7]

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.[4]

Electoral results[]

Legislative elections[]

Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
1920 Kārlis Ulmanis 126,434 17.79 New
26 / 150
 New 2nd Coalition
1922 132,764 16.77 Decrease 1.02
17 / 100
 Decrease 9 Steady 2nd Coalition
1925 125,070 15.03 Decrease 1.74
16 / 100
 Decrease 1 Steady 2nd Coalition
1928 139,173 14.97 Decrease 0.06
16 / 100
 Steady 0 Steady 2nd Coalition
1931 118,443 12.25 Decrease 2.72
14 / 100
 Decrease 2 Steady 2nd Coalition
Banned 1934-1990 under Ulmanis regime and the Latvian SSR
1993 Jānis Kinna 119,116 10.65 New
12 / 100
 New 4th Coalition
1995 60,498 6.36
(LZS-KDS-LDP[a]) 		Decrease 4.29
3 / 100
 Decrease 9 Decrease 6th Coalition
1998 23,732 2.48 Decrease 3.88
0 / 100
 Decrease 3 Decrease 7th Extra-parliamentary
2002 Augusts Brigmanis 93,759 9.47
(ZZS[b]) 		Increase 6.99
7 / 100
 Increase 7 Increase 5th Coalition
2006 151,595 16.81
(ZZS[c]) 		Increase 7.34
12 / 100
 Increase 5 Increase 2nd Coalition
2010 190,025 20.11
(ZZS[d]) 		Increase 3.30
13 / 100
 Increase 1 Decrease 3rd Coalition
2011 111,957 12.33
(ZZS[e]) 		Decrease 7.78
5 / 100
 Decrease 8 Decrease 5th Opposition
2014 178,210 19.66
(ZZS[f]) 		Increase 7.33
11 / 100
 Increase 6 Increase 3rd Coalition
2018 83,675 9.97
(ZZS[g]) 		Decrease 9.69
5 / 100
 Decrease 6 Decrease 6th Opposition


  1. ^ LZS-KDS-LDP list won 9 seats - 3 to LZS - 3 to KDS - 1 to LDP
  2. ^ ZZS list won 12 seats - 7 to LZS - 5 to LZP
  3. ^ ZZS list won 18 seats - 12 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 2 to LuV
  4. ^ ZZS list won 22 seats - 13 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 3 to LuV - 2 to LP
  5. ^ ZZS list won 13 seats - 5 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 2 to LuV - 1 to LP
  6. ^ ZZS list won 21 seats - 11 to LZS - 4 to LZP - 3 to LuV - 3 to LP
  7. ^ ZZS list won 11 seats - 5 to LZS - 1 to LZP - 2 to LuV - 3 to LP

Symbols and logos[]

  • Old logo

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.lzs.lv/par-mums/vesture No Latvijas Zemnieku savienības vēstures lappusēm
  2. ^ "Latvijā partijās daudzkārt mazāk biedru nekā Lietuvā un Igaunijā. Kāpēc tā?" (in Latvian). LSM.lv. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Liberals and Democrats adopt Latvia's stray MEP". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  5. ^ "Latvijas Zemnieku savienības programma (Programme of the Latvian Farmers' Union)". lzs.lv (in Latvian). 2018-03-24. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Miranda Schreurs; Elim Papadakis, eds. (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Green Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-5381-1960-0.

External links[]


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