New Unity

The New Unity (Latvian: Jaunā Vienotība, JV) is a centre-right political alliance in Latvia.[1] Its members are Unity 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
  • For Kuldīga Municipality
  • For Valmiera and Vidzeme
  • Jēkabpils Regional Party
Associate membersLatgale Party
Colours
  •   Green
  •   Blue
  •   Light green
Saeima
26 / 100
European Parliament
3 / 8
Government of Latvia
7 / 15
Riga City Council
9 / 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.

By 2021, the Latgale Party, a co-founder and later cooperation partner of the alliance, started to move closer to the For Latvia's Development party by running joint campaigns for the 2021 municipal elections. Although an offer to extend the partnership was also received from JV leadership, this ultimately resulted in the signing of a cooperation agreement for the 2022 parliamentary election in July 2022.[14][15] However, JV still claimed in September that it will continue cooperation with the party in the new 14th Saeima.[16]

Members
Name Ideology Position Leader Saeima MEPs
Unity
Vienotība		 Liberal conservatism Centre-right Arvils Ašeradens
23 / 100
2 / 8
For Kuldīga Municipality
Kuldīgas novadam		 Regionalism Juris Šulcs
1 / 100
0 / 8
For Valmiera and Vidzeme
Valmierai un Vidzemei		 Regionalism Jānis Baiks
1 / 100
0 / 8
Jēkabpils Regional Party
Jēkabpils reģionālā partija		 Regionalism Leonīds Salcevičs
0 / 100
0 / 8
Independents
1 / 100
0 / 8

Associate members
Name Ideology Position Leader Saeima MEPs
Latgale Party
Latgales partija		 Regionalism Jānis Lāčplēsis
Aldis Adamovičs
0 / 100
0 / 8

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
2022 173,425 19.19 Increase 12.45
26 / 100
 Increase 18 1st 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. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. 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.
  14. ""Latgales partija" saņēmusi sadarbības piedāvājumu dalībai parlamenta vēlēšanās no "Attīstībai/Par!" un "Jaunās vienotības"". TVNET (in Latvian). 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  15. ""Latvijas attīstībai" paraksta memorandu ar "Vidzemes partiju" un "Latgales partiju" par kopīgu startu apvienības "Attīstībai/Par!" sarakstos 14. Saeimas vēlēšanās". Latvijas attīstībai (in Latvian). 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  16. "Latgales avīze: Latgale ir īpašs reģions". Jaunā Vienotība (in Latvian). 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
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