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The Progressives (Latvia)

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The Progressives
Progresīvie
AbbreviationPRO
ChairpersonAgnese Lāce
Andris Šuvajevs
Secretary-GeneralOlga Paožole[1]
FounderAnsis Dobelis (association)
Māris Graudiņš [lv] (party)
Founded26 February 2011; 13 years ago (2011-02-26) (association)
25 February 2017; 7 years ago (2017-02-25) (party)
Split fromLatvian Social Democratic Workers' Party[2]
HeadquartersErnesta Birznieka-Upīša iela 20, Riga
Membership (2022)834[3]
IdeologySocial democracy
Green politics
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing[4]
European affiliationEuropean Green Party
Colors  Red
  Green
Saeima
10 / 100
European Parliament
1 / 9
Riga City Council
11 / 60
Website
progresivie.lv

The Progressives (Latvian: Progresīvie, Latvian: ['pɾɔgɾesiːviɛ]) is a social-democratic and green political party in Latvia.[5] The party was founded on 25 February 2017. Since 4 September 2021 its leaders have been Antoņina Ņenaševa and Atis Švinka. The Progressives have 11 seats on Riga City Council and 10 seats in the Saeima and one seat in the European Parliament.

History

[edit]

The party is a successor of a social-democratic NGO of the same name (Latvian: biedrība "Progresīvie") that was founded on 26 March 2011 and was led by Ansis Dobelis.[6] The Progressives participated in the 2017 Latvian municipal elections in four municipalities. In two of these, Aizpute and Mārupe Municipality, they won seats on the local councils.

The Progressives participated in the 2018 parliamentary election. Prior to the election, the party declined to join the liberal alliance Development/For!.[7] The Progressives argued that staying out of the alliance was necessary to ensure that the party's left-wing policies and high standard for political donations were not compromised. The Progressives had a unique gender parity principle on their ballots, with all election list leaders being women.[8] Their candidate for Prime Minister was Roberts Putnis [lv].[9] The party did not win any seats in the Saeima, receiving only 2.6% of the vote, but qualifying for state funding of €15,000 per year for surpassing the 2% threshold.[10]

In May 2019, the Progressives participated in the 2019 European Parliament election. They ran with the slogan "More Europe" on a federalist platform, with their main proposals concerning social policy and green politics. Although polling at 4.5% in March[11] and 4.3% in April[12] they ultimately received only 2.9% of the vote. After the election, on 28 May, Roberts Putnis resigned as party leader.[13][14] That year they also organised a small protest against the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria in front of the Turkish embassy in Riga,[15] as well as pickets against a labour law reform that was deemed to degrade workers rights and weaken labour unions.[16]

In early 2020, the Riga City Council was dismissed and a snap election was called. Due to technicalities and the COVID-19 pandemic, the election was postponed until 29 August. The Progressives formed a common electoral list with the liberal Development/For! alliance, claiming that ideological differences are not as important at the local level and stressed the importance of toppling Riga's ruling SDP Harmony–Honor to serve Riga coalition that had been involved in multiple corruption scandals. The common electoral list won the election with 18 out of 60 seats, of which nine were members of the Progressives and 2 were independent city activists with ties to the Progressives.[citation needed] The Progressives' member Mārtiņš Kossovičs chairs the common City Council group of Development/For! and the Progressives, Edmunds Cepurītis is the chair of the housing and environment committee, and Viesturs Kleinbergs is the chair of the social issues committee.[17]

In the October 2022 parliamentary election, the Progressives won 6.2% of the vote, entering the Saeima with 10 seats.[18]

In June 2023, the Progressives were accepted as a Full Member of the European Green Party.[19] In September 2023, the party joined the new Siliņa cabinet.

Ideology and platform

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The Progressives state that one of their main goals is implementing the Nordic welfare model in Latvia, and the party political programme is called "Turning towards the Nordic countries".[20] The party's principles include implementation of a progressive tax system, responsibility towards the environment, fighting against corruption and the shadow economy, an active state role in the economy, dropping GDP as the main measure of development (in favour of others which take the well-being of society into account such as the Happiness index), gender and LGBT equality.[21]

Nationality and identity

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The party is supportive of dual citizenship among the Latvian diaspora. It supports further state funding for Latvian-language education (as well as a 0% VAT on books published in Latvian) and the granting of free Latvian courses for returning migrants and asylum seekers, while at the same time also supporting minority languages in the school curriculum as a form of cultural diversity. They define themselves as inclusive and oppose ethnic segregation and discrimination.[22]

Foreign policy

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The Progressives subscribe to a pro-European ideology and support Latvia's membership in NATO. They are in favour of forming a common EU army, and believe that the EU should become a United Nations Security Council permanent member state, while at the same time desiring to abolish permanent members' singular veto power.[22]

The party condemns what they dub the "aggressive policy of the Russian ruling regime", while at the same time expressing a desire for improved relations with both Russia and Belarus, which they opine would happen through "democratic processes" in these nations.[22] They do not recognise the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and have called for an investigation into the "human rights violations in Russian-occupied Crimea".[16]

They condemn Israel's actions against Palestinians and support a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.[23]

Economy

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The Progressives call on the Latvian state to abandon neoliberal economic policies and the "Russian-style" of restraint toward economic interventionism, instead calling for active state participation in the national economy. They are in favour of trade diversification aimed at reducing Latvia's dependence on Russian cargo and advocate for state funding for small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups and companies that adhere to their social and environmental criteria.[22]

Election results

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Legislative elections

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Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
2018 Roberts Putnis [lv] 22,078 2.63 New
0 / 100
 New 10th Extra-parliamentary
2022 Kaspars Briškens 56,327 6.23 Increase 3.60
10 / 100
 Increase 10 Increase 7th Opposition (2022-2023)
Coalition (2023-)

European Parliament elections

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Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2019 Gunta Anča [lv] 13,705 2.91 (#10)
0 / 8
 New –
2024 Elīna Pinto [lv] 38,752 7.53 (#5)
1 / 9
 Increase 1 Greens–EFA

Riga City Council

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Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Status
2020[a] Mārtiņš Kossovičs [lv] 44,759 26.14 (#1)
11 / 60
 Coalition
  1. ^ Coalition with AP!

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Cilvēki" (in Latvian). Progresīvie. November 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  2. ^ kreisie.lv (18 February 2011). "LSDSP vairs nepārstāv sociāldemokrātu idejas – kreisie.lv". Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  3. ^ "Partijas PROGRESĪVIE panākumi 2022. Gadā". 5 April 2023.
  4. ^ https://www.la.lv/jauna-politiska-partija-sola-pielidzinat-latviju-ziemelvalstim Jauna politiskā partija sola pielīdzināt Latviju Ziemeļvalstīm
  5. ^ "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 2)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. August 14, 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Principi | PROGRESĪVIE" (in Latvian). 2017-02-09. Archived from the original on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  7. ^ "Progressive party rejects cooperation talks with For Latvia's Development party". Baltic News Network. February 28, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Latvian political party Progresīvie to nominate women as candidate list leaders". Baltic News Network. 16 July 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "'Progressives' party announces Latvian prime ministerial candidate". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. June 19, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  10. ^ Klūga, Māris (October 8, 2018). "Three of the smaller parties to get state funding". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Harmony, New Unity lead the way towards European elections". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. April 19, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  12. ^ "Harmony still leads in Euro election polls despite taint of scandal". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "Putnis to quit as leader of the Progressives after party's defeat in EP elections". The Baltic Times. May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "Putnis to stand down as head of the Progressives". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. May 29, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  15. ^ LETA (2019-10-21). "Foto: Cilvēki pie Turcijas vēstniecības Rīgā protestē pret agresiju Sīrijā". delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  16. ^ a b "Politiskā partija "Progresīvie" rīkos piketu par darba ņēmēju tiesībām". ZZ.lv. 10 December 2018.
  17. ^ LETA (2020-10-06). "Riga City Council approves new heads of committees". BNN. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  18. ^ "Saeima election results: Seven lists win seats in Latvian parliament". ERR. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  19. ^ "The 37th Extraordinary EGP Congress in Vienna welcomed 4 new EGP Members!". European Greens. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  20. ^ "Vēsture" (in Latvian). Progresīvie. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  21. ^ "Principles" (PDF). Progresīvie. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d "Programma – Partija Progresīvie" (in Latvian). 19 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  23. ^ "Par taisnīgu un ilgtermiņa mieru Izraēlā un Palestīnā". PROGRESĪVIE (in Latvian). 19 April 2024.
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