For a Humane Latvia

For a Humane Latvia (Latvian: Par cilvēcīgu Latviju, PCL), previously known as Who Owns the State? (Kam pieder valsts?, KPV), is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia.[2][3][4] Since 2022, its a member of the Union for Latvia (Latvian: Apvienība Latvijai) alliance together with the Heritage of the Fatherland party.[5]

For a Humane Latvia
Par cilvēcīgu Latviju
AbbreviationPCL
ChairmanMāris Možvillo[1]
FounderArtuss Kaimiņš
Founded3 May 2016 (2016-05-03)
Split fromLatvian Association of Regions
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
National affiliationUnion for Latvia
Colours
  •   Cyan
  •   Red
  •   Grey
Saeima
0 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Website
cilvecigi.lv

It was formed in 2016 by Artuss Kaimiņš under the name of KPV.[6][7][8] It is positioned on the centre-right[9] or right-wing[2] on the political spectrum, and it is a conservative[2] and Eurosceptic[4] party that advocates for anti-corruption policies.[10]

History

Origins, success in 2018

Initially known as just KPV, it changed its abbreviation to KPV LV on 21 June 2016, as an association by the same name already existed.[11]

In July 2018, the party experienced a steep rise in ratings, reaching 7.0%, in comparison with 4.4% just a month before, and became the third most popular political party in Latvia. Political scientist Ivars Ijabs credited the rise to Kaimiņš, co-chairman of the party Atis Zakatistovs and businessman Viesturs Tamužs being detained by anti-graft police in late June for alleged illegal party financing that Kaimiņš claimed was politically motivated.[12][13] In August the party's rating rose to 7.5%,[14][15] but then dropped to 6.2% a month later.[16] According to the results of a survey organized by the Union of European Latvians and the web portal latviesi.com, KPV LV was the most popular political party in the Latvian diaspora in September 2018, with nearly 25% in support.[17] The party's prime minister candidate for the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election was attorney Aldis Gobzems.[8]

KPV LV received the second largest number of votes (14.25%) among the parties participating in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election and earned 16 seats in the 13th Saeima.[18] After Jānis Bordāns of New Conservative Party (which also earned 16 seats in parliament) was unsuccessful in negotiating a governing coalition, President Raimonds Vējonis nominated Gobzems as Prime Minister of Latvia on 26 November 2018,[19][20] however Gobzems was also unsuccessful in forming a government and on 10 December Vējonis withdrew his candidacy.[21][22]

2018–2019: internal divisions

On 4 February 2019 the party board voted to expel Gobzems from the party, with Kaimiņš citing damage to the party's image as the main reason, while Gobzems claimed he was expelled "in the interests of Artuss Kaimiņš".[23] On 6 February 2019 Gobzems was subsequently removed from KPV LV's parliamentary group.[24]

A week later the party's co-chairperson and member of the board Linda Liepiņa stepped down because of KPV LV joining a coalition she did not support and the recent actions of Kaimiņš among other things.[25] After the latest developments in the faction and its vote in the presidential elections she also left the party and its parliamentary faction on 29 May.[26] A day later Liepiņa was followed by MP Karina Sprūde who also left the party and its parliamentary faction.[27] The once-candidate for the office of the President of Latvia, MP Didzis Šmits left the main KPV faction on 13 June although he has not yet said that he will leave the party.[28]

"KPV LV" and "The Independents", the fractions the party has been a part of in Saeima and its representation in the government

2020–present: loss of popularity, splits, rebrand

In 2020, the party suffered an electoral setback, receiving only 1.12% of the vote at the 2020 Riga City Council snap election. On December 12, 2020, during a party convention KPV LV members voted to remove chairman Atis Zakatistovs from the party, replace him with board member Rolands Millers and to rename the party to For a Humane Latvia (Latvian: Par cilvēcīgu Latviju).[29] The change was contested by a splinter convention held the earlier same month, which prompted the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia (UR) to postpone the name change and return the submission documents for revision with a deadline of April 2021.[30] On February 1, 2021, the Register of Enterprises registered the change of name and administrative board.[31] A member of the Saeima, Ieva Krapāne, was elected as party leader during a congress on March 7, but twenty days later the board elected during the first December convention announced that they had regained recognition from the UR as the legitimate party board and will return to using KPV LV as the party name - a move described as a "technical move" and "provocation" by Krapāne.[32]

On 21 April 2021, one of the party's three ministers in the incumbent Kariņš cabinet, the Minister of Economics Jānis Vitenbergs, left the party to join the National Alliance.[33] The following day, the KPV LV parliamentary faction voted to remove Vitenbergs from the office of Minister of Economics. Later the same day, it was announced that he was to remain in office after all, after the KPV LV faction had changed its mind and chosen to continue supporting Vitenbergs as Minister of Economics.[34] On 12 May, the party's 9 MPs held another vote on whether to force Vitenbergs' resignation from his ministerial role, with four MPs voting for, four against, and one abstaining. Subsequently, the four MPs who voted against removing Vitenbergs left the party and parliamentary faction.[35]

In the run up to the 2022 election, on 27 April 2022 the party announced the formation of the Union for Latvia alliance together with the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, albeit the Social Democrats later withdrew and joined the Union of Greens and Farmers. They were in turn replaced with the far-right Heritage of the Fatherland party. The Union for Latvia list received a mere 0,33% of votes, losing all of its MPs and state political party funding.

Ideology

The party has been described as right-wing populist,[36][4] populist,[37][38][39] anti-establishment,[40] and Eurosceptic.[4]

PCL's position on the European Union has been compared to that of Italy's Five Star Movement – not promoting "hard Euroscepticism" in line with the predominantly pro-EU majority of competing parties, but also taking critical stances of the EU's economic policies, including the euro.[41]

Election results

Legislative elections
Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes  % ± pp Seats +/–
2018 Aldis Gobzems 120,264 14.33 New
16 / 100
 New 2nd Coalition
2022* Māris Možvillo 2,985 0.33 Decrease 14.00
0 / 100
 Decrease 16 Decrease 17th Extra-parliamentary
  • * result of the Union for Latvia alliance

European Parliament
Election Leader Votes  % Seats +/–
2019 Kaspars Ģirģens 4,362 0.93 (#10)
0 / 8
  • 2016 logo
    2016 logo
  • Logo before December 12, 2020
    Logo before December 12, 2020
  • Logo briefly used between March 27 and June 4, 2021
    Logo briefly used between March 27 and June 4, 2021

References
  1. "VALDE" (in Latvian). PCL. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  2. Henningsen, Bernd; Etzold, Tobias; Hanne, Krister (2017). The Baltic Sea Region: A Comprehensive Guide. BWV Verlag. p. 341. ISBN 9783830517276.
  3. Hegedüs, Daniel; Boros, Tamás; Bartha, Dániel; Cuperus, René; Győri, Gábor; Laki, Gergely; Soós, Eszter Petronella (2017). The State of Populism in Europe 2017. Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Policy Solutions, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest. p. 44. ISBN 9782930769103. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  4. Kjetil Duvold; Sten Berglund; Joakim Ekman (2020). Political Culture in the Baltic States: Between National and European Integration. Springer Nature. p. 62. ISBN 978-3-030-21844-7.
  5. "Partijas "Tēvzemes mantojums" kandididāti vēstījumi uz 14.Saeimas vēlēšanām 17.saraksts "Apvienība Latvijai"". tevzemesmantojums.mozello.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  6. "Today is the day of founding for Artuss Kaimins' new political party". Baltic News Network. LETA. May 3, 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. "Firebrand MP founds new party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 5 May 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  8. Kaža, Juris (14 August 2018). "Who is who in upcoming Latvian parliamentary elections". Re:Baltica. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  9. "Who owns the state? Latvian anti-establishment party aims for power". New Eastern Europe. 13 November 2018.
  10. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  11. "Artuss Kaimins new party to be renamed". Baltic News Network. LETA. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  12. "MP released from custody, three suspected of illegal party financing scheme". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  13. Krenberga, Odita (26 July 2018). "Steep rise in ratings for populist party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  14. Geste, Jānis (24 August 2018). "August party ratings: KPV LV steady, hopes up for New Unity". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  15. "Popularity of KPV LV party, New Unity kept growing in August". The Baltic Times. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  16. "Party ratings see support drop for Harmony, grow for newcomers". De Facto. Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  17. "Latvian diaspora's most liked political parties include KPV LV, Attīstībai/Par! and Progressive". Baltic News Network. LETA. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  18. "Latvian election results show shape of new Saeima". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  19. "Gobzems nominated for PM". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  20. "President nominates Gobzems for PM". The Baltic Times. LETA. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  21. "Gobzems out of the picture as candidacy pulled by President". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  22. "Latvian president calls off KPV LV leader Aldis Gobzems nomination". Baltic News Network. LETA. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  23. "KPV LV expels leader Gobzems from party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  24. Līcīte, Madara; Semjonova, Ella (6 February 2019). "Gobzems booted from KPV LV's Saeima faction as well". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  25. "Troubles continue in Latvian anti-establishment party KPV LV". Baltic News Network. LETA. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  26. "MP Liepiņa to leave KPV LV faction and party over presidential vote". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  27. "Another MP leaves KPV LV party and parliament faction". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  28. ""KPV LV" pamet Roberts Spručs; Šmits izstājas no frakcijas". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  29. ""KPV LV" lemj mainīt nosaukumu uz "Par cilvēcīgu Latviju"". LETA (in Latvian). Public Broadcasting of Latvia. December 12, 2020.
  30. "Joprojām nav skaidrības, kura "KPV LV" daļa ir "īstā"" [Still no consensus on which faction of KPV LV is "genuine"]. Apollo.lv (in Latvian). 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  31. "'Par cilvēcīgu Latviju' — partijai 'KPV LV' reģistrēts jaunais nosaukums un valde". LETA (in Latvian). Delfi. February 1, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  32. Līcīte, Madara (2021-03-27). "No bijušās "KPV LV" valdes prasīs iztērētos līdzekļus par neatļautu partijas nosaukuma maiņu" [The former KPV LV board will be demanded a refund for the unauthorized change of party name]. Lsm.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  33. "Abandon ship – Latvian Minister of Economy decides to switch political parties". LETA. Baltic News Network. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  34. "Economics Minister to remain in office after all". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  35. Līcīte, Madara (12 May 2021). "KPV LV votes for withdrawal of Economics Minister; four members leave faction". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  36. Henningsen, Bernd; Etzold, Tobias; Hanne, Krister (2017). The Baltic Sea Region: A Comprehensive Guide. BWV Verlag. p. 341. ISBN 9783830517276.
  37. Tom Lansford, ed. (2019). Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019. SAGE Publications. p. 4057. ISBN 978-1-5443-2711-2.
  38. "Echoes of the wave of populism: voters of Kaimiņš – young angry males" (in Latvian). Public Broadcasting of Latvia. December 18, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  39. "Nations in Transit 2018: Latvia". Freedom House. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  40. Hegedüs, Daniel; Boros, Tamás; Bartha, Dániel; Cuperus, René; Győri, Gábor; Laki, Gergely; Soós, Eszter Petronella (2017). The State of Populism in Europe 2017. Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Policy Solutions, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest. p. 44. ISBN 9782930769103. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  41. Petsinis, Vassilis (26 January 2019). "As long as it lasts: Latvia's new coalition government". openDemocracy. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
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