Latvians have begun voting today in their first election since joining the EU two years ago. Social issues are high in the minds of voters concerned that the booming economy has not benefited everyone in the EU bloc's poorest country. The election is the fifth since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the first since Latvia joined the European Union.
Nineteen parties are fielding some 1,024 candidates for the 100 seats in the single-chamber parliament. Surveys are predicting the conservative, business-friendly People's Party, led by current Defence Minister Atis Slakteris, as most likely to do best in the election. The poll published Friday showed the People's Party leading the race with 13.7 percent of the vote, followed by their current coalition partners, the Union for Greens and Farmers, with 12.4 percent.
Many parties have focused on social issues in their campaign, and a poll released on the eve of the election is proving the strategy to be successful in a country where many citizens, especially those living outside the capital city Riga, complain the economic boom has left them behind. Since EU accession, Latvia with its 2.3 million citizens, has seen the most rapid growth in the EU as it catches up to older member states. Last year, gross domestic product per capita (GDP) was at around 47 percent of the EU average. The average monthly wage was just 350 Euros (440 USD) last year, while pensioners received on average 115 Euros per month.
Riga AFP
October 7, 2006
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