Latvia's First Party
The Latvia's First Party (Latvian: Latvijas Pirmā Partija) was a socially conservative, Christian-democratic right-wing political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvian Way to form Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way in 2007.
Latvia's First Party Latvijas Pirmā Partija | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Joint leadership of Ēriks Jēkabsons and Ainārs Šlesers. |
| Founded | May 25, 2002 |
| Dissolved | August 25, 2007 |
| Succeeded by | Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way |
| Headquarters | Riga |
| Ideology | Conservatism Christian democracy Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Purple, green |
| Website | |
| lpp.lv | |
| |
It was founded on 25 May 2002, led by Ēriks Jēkabsons and Ainārs Šlesers. The party included a number of priests from all the major branches of Christianity in Latvia (Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox and Baptist) as well as members of Jaunā Paaudze (New Generation), a controversial charismatic group. As a result, it was informally nicknamed "the party of priests" or the "pastors' party".
Using populist promises and support from religious organisations, it won 9.5% of the popular vote and 10 out of 100 seats in the Saeima after the elections of October 5, 2002 and joined all the coalition governments since that time until its dissolution. In the 2006 elections, it ran together with Latvian Way; the bloc took 8.58% but also won 10 seats in parliament. The parties merged in the following years.