Latvia’s September elections democratic and pluralistic, but significant numbers face barriers to political participation, concludes ODIHR final report

Latvia’s early parliamentary elections on 17 September took place in a democratic and pluralistic environment but a significant part of the population continues to face barriers to political participation, the final report released by ODIHR on 19 December 2011 concludes.

The report highlights the existence of a genuine choice between parties offering different political platforms, the well-developed regulations that adequately ensured the transparency of campaign finance and the fact that electoral contenders were able to carry out their activities freely.

However, the political landscape continued to be generally divided along ethnic and linguistic lines, the report adds, with parties still broadly perceived as representing either Latvian speakers or the country’s considerable Russian-speaking population, many of whom are non-citizens.

While citizenship is recognized as an admissible restriction to suffrage, the report notes that it remains a challenge that a considerable number of non-citizens are not able to vote.

According to the report, the legal framework generally provided an adequate basis for the conduct of democratic elections, but could benefit from further improvements. For example, the legislation still does not allow candidates to run independently.

The Latvian mass media were observed as free to disseminate information and views but “the perceived affiliation of certain broadcasters and newspapers with influential businessmen and politicians” remains a concern.

The report concludes that the Central Election Commission and Municipal Election Councils administered the elections professionally, with voting proceeding in an orderly manner.