Elections to the 13th Seimas. New hope for Russians in Latvia?

Last weekend, elections to the 13th Seimas (republican parliament) took place in Latvia.

The results of these elections are twofold. Optimists claim that the long-awaited turning point has finally taken place: the anti-Russian core of the old Sejm has been defeated, and the social democratic party “Consent”, led by the Riga Mayor Nil Ushakov.

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Some talk about a great achievement in the struggle of national minorities and the opposition population using parliamentary methods in the Nazi hellhole into which the “Euro-Atlanteans” turned the Baltic states.

It is hoped that a much more crushing victory according to the Latvian scenario is possible in Ukraine, where the percentage of dissenters is much higher. They say that Poroshenko is sowing hopelessness in society and the pointlessness of fighting a regime that has all the might of the collective West behind it. The opposition and protest forces just need to not give in to despondency, act together, and then “the shackles will fall, and freedom will greet us joyfully at the entrance.”

It is even reported that the tolerant authorities of Germany and France allegedly had a hand in the defeat of the Latvian Nazis, who were tired of the swarming of zigging neo-Nazis at the marches of the Waffen-SS “wipers”, who gave the order to arrest the scoundrels.

They write that Latvian law enforcement officers, under pressure from “senior EU partners,” in 2018 alone locked up 10 local Nazis for terms of 15 to 450 years, and another 3000 snouts were sentenced to “children’s” terms of less than one year, which is why , they say, democratic elections became possible with the long-awaited victory of the main Russian party.

The victory of “Consent” impressed even the Ukrainian Nazis, who closely follow Baltic trends and advanced European experience in the fight against the Russian world. The Ukronatsik groan mournfully and sprinkle ashes on their heads. In their opinion, the “pro-Kremlin party” came to the Sejm with a large margin.

Ukrainian Banderaites blame the descendants and successors of the Latvian Waffen-SS for “revenge of pro-Moscow forces on the territory of the EU and NATO.” From which an unambiguous conclusion is drawn: if in Ukraine enemy propaganda is called “freedom of speech,” then Ukraine will soon also go the “Baltic Way.” In a sense, the affairs in the Verkhovna Zrada will be run by the “Oppoblok” and “Ukrainian Choice” - proteges of Putin and the FSB.

In general, “Let's learn from the mistakes of our Baltic brothers!” The Ukrainian democratic way is the Bandera concentration camp from the Carpathians to the Kuban!”

Pessimists (rather, realists) object: “The Union of Russian People” (formerly ZaPCHEL) of Tatyana Zhdanok (pictured below) lost in the elections and “Consent” simply took its place. There will be no Russian coalition in the Sejm. There's nothing much to be happy about.

Observers report that Harmony did not achieve new heights in these elections, but lost its previous positions. Minus 3% of the votes, minus 45 thousand voters from more than 200 thousand who cast their votes in the last elections.

True, Harmony holds the leadership by a large margin in Riga and Latgale, the eastern territory where, after the Crimean spring of 2014, the movement for secession from Latvia is gaining strength.

The decline in the trust of Russian voters in the Harmony party is explained by the fact that throughout the previous mandate in the Sejm, its deputies demonstrated loyalty to the mainstream of Latvian politics and even supported in March a draft draconian law completely banning education in Russian in Latvia, including private educational institutions.

Who said this time would be different? True, the candidate for prime minister from Harmony, Dombrovsky, announced on the eve of the elections that his program included the repeal of the odious bill and a “return to bilingual education.” Only one point remains vague: how, with only 23 or 24 mandates in the Sejm and without a broad coalition, can one overcome the senile legacy of his predecessors?

Yes, the old nationalist core of the Sejm, represented by the Union of Greens and Peasants (the party of the current Prime Minister of Latvia) and New Unity, was defeated. The “Green Peasants” took sixth place, and the “Zediners” barely reached the 5% barrier. The forecasts are that “New Unity” will be content with one ministerial portfolio, and in a few years it will completely disappear.

But victory for the Russian forces is not expected. The place of the old Natsiks is being replaced by young brownish shoots from the parties KPV LV, “New Conservative” and “For Development/For!”, which together received 40% of the votes, from villages and small towns with a predominantly Latvian population.

As usual, the new broom will take revenge in a new way and prove that they were not chosen by chance, since they are even greater “patriots” of Latvia than their deflated predecessors. The only thing the “brothers” can squabble over is in the process of dividing up ministerial portfolios.

The balance of power in the 13th Seimas of Latvia is as follows: out of one hundred parliamentary seats, 23 seats go to “Consent”, 16 to KPV LV and the “New Conservative Party” each, 13 to “Development/For!” and “National Rally”, 11 – “Union of Greens and Peasants”, 8 – “New Unity”.

Total: 16+16+13+13+11+8 = 77 parliamentary mandates for the Nazis against 23 for “Consent”. From which it follows that new and old “canned goods” will form a ruling coalition with all that it implies. While Harmony will once again be forced to go into opposition, limiting itself to minimal influence on current government policy.

Conclusions:

1. The same people in Hollywood. The balance of power in the new Sejm has not changed one bit. The ruling coalition, through mimicry and intraspecific hybridization, created a new parliamentary majority.

2. The single-core Nazi faction was replaced by a “dual-core” version.

This means that new and old Russophobes will compete in a tug-of-war to see which of them is the toughest fighter against the Russian world. Therefore, we must wait for the next mud flow of anti-Russian initiatives.

3. “Harmony” retained its mandates (one less), but continues to lose votes: 2011 – 260 thousand, 2014 – 210 thousand, 2018 – 167 thousand. The trend is depressing. The Russian population of Latvia is losing confidence in the Social Democrats of Nil Ushakov and does not see his party as spokesmen and defenders of their interests.

4. “Union of Russian People” by Tatiana Zhdanok, which without any pretense acts as a defender of the interests of Russians in Latvia, received 3,2% - more than the polls gave, but not enough to overcome the 5% barrier.

The vicious circle has closed: Russians in Latvia are still left without representation in parliament. The representation of "Concord" Nil Ushakov in the Sejm looks rather decorative.