2015 Latvian presidential election

Election in Latvia

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June 3, 2015 (2015-06-03)

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Candidate	Raimonds Vējonis	Egils Levits
Electoral vote	55	42

President of Latvia before election

Andris Bērziņš

Elected President of Latvia

Raimonds Vējonis

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Indirect presidential elections were held in Latvia on 3 June 2015.^[1] Raimonds Vējonis of the Green Party was elected President and took office on 8 July. According to the European Green Party, he is the first of their members to become a head of state of a European Union member state.^[2]

Election

Incumbent Andris Bērziņš announced in April 2015 that he would not seek a second term.^[3]^[4]

The ruling coalition failed to agree on a joint candidate, with the Union of Greens and Farmers nominating Defence Minister Raimonds Vējonis (who also had the support of most of Unity's MPs), while the National Alliance nominated European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits (who also had the support of Unity's Lolita Čigāne and For Latvia from the Heart's Ringolds Balodis).

Two opposition parties also nominated candidates – the Latvian Association of Regions nominated its MP Mārtiņš Bondars^[5] and the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" nominated its MP Sergejs Dolgopolovs.^[6]

In the first round of votes in the Saeima, no one was elected. In the second round, Mārtiņš Bondars received the fewest votes and was eliminated, and in the third round, Sergejs Dolgopolovs was eliminated. In the fourth round, the only candidates remaining were Egils Levits and Raimonds Vējonis. Levits got 26 votes for, Vējonis got 46 votes for. In the final round, Vējonis was elected with 55 votes for and 42 votes against (99 lawmakers voted in total, but one vote was invalid).^[7]

Reactions

Vējonis stated that "I would like to improve relations with Russia... but while Russian rockets and heavy weapons remain in Ukraine, that's not really possible". He promised increasing national security while promoting environmentalism.^[2]

Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma of Unity announced that she was pleased with the result.^[2]

References

^ "Presidential elections in Latvia to take place on June 3". The Baltic Course. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Collier, Mike; Sibierski, Mary (3 June 2015). "Latvia elects Vejonis, EU's first Green president". Yahoo!. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
^ "President Bērziņš will not seek second term". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
^ "Latvian President Berzins will not run for second term". The Baltic Course. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^ "Bondars to fight for Presidency". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
^ "Harmony puts forward Dolgopolovs for Latvian president". The Baltic Course. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^ "LIVE BLOG closed: Defense Minister Raimonds Vejonis is elected as Latvia's next president". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.