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DE RUEHRA #0322 1290830
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R 090830Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3983
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS RIGA 000322 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV LG
SUBJECT: Latvian Parliament passes law to regulate Presidential 
election 
 
 
¶1. Summary: On May 3, two months before the July 7 expiration of the 
term of office of President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the Saeima 
(parliament) unanimously passed the Presidential Election Law 
initiated by the serving President. The new law, apart from 
expanding the eligibility criteria provided by the Constitution, 
outlines procedures for the presidential nomination, repeated and 
extraordinary elections. The upcoming presidential elections, which 
are expected to take place on June 6, will be regulated by the new 
law. Since the ruling coalition has not managed to agree on fielding 
a common candidate for the first round of elections, it is possible 
that no winner will be decided that day and a second round of 
balloting will be required, likely the week of June 17.  End 
summary.. 
 
¶2. The four presidential elections which have taken place since 
Latvia regained independence in 1991 have been regulated by general 
provisions provided by the Constitution and tradition. President 
Vike-Freiberga suggested that a more orderly process was needed and 
proposed legislation, which was adopted without much change.  The 
new law reiterates the Constitutional requirements for the 
President; the candidate must be age 40 and cannot be a dual 
citizen.  The law adds seven disqualifying conditions, including a 
ban on service in the security services of the USSR, Soviet 
Socialist Republic of Latvia or any foreign country, or membership 
in the Communist party or affiliated groups after January 13, 1991. 
 
 
¶3. The law also provides a calendar for the process.  We have 
provided the dates in which these events will fall in this cycle 
based on the July 7 expiration of Vike-Freiberga's term. 
Nominations for post of the President are made by members of 
Parliament and shall be submitted to the Saeima Presidium in writing 
not earlier than 50 days (19 May) and not later than 45 (24 May) 
days before the expiration of the term of an outgoing President. 
The Saeima's Presidium is responsible for setting a day for the 
Saeima to vote on the candidates not earlier than 40 days (29 May) 
and not later than 30 days (8 June) before the expiration of the 
term of an outgoing President. Parliamentary and political sources 
all say the vote will take place on June 6. 
¶4. The Constitution requires an absolute majority of 51 votes in the 
100-member Saeima to elect the President.  According to the law, on 
a single day of voting repeated rounds of balloting are to be held 
if any of the candidates fails to collect 51 votes, with the 
candidate getting the least number of votes in each round being 
dropped from the next round.  As lawmakers can submit blank ballots 
and the ruling coalition has not yet agreed on a single candidate, 
it is possible that no candidate will emerge victorious on June 6. 
In that case, the process starts over again.  New nominations would 
have to be made not later than 5 days after the last round of the 
elections, or June 12 based on the current calendar.  Candidates who 
were eliminated in the first round of voting can be nominated again. 
 The Saeima Presidium convenes a Saeima session for new elections 
not earlier than 10 days (17 June) and not later than 15 days (22 
June) after the last election round. The elections are repeated in 
compliance with the above mentioned procedure until a candidate 
receives 51 votes. 
 
¶5. The law also provides for procedures for extraordinary 
presidential elections to be held in the event that the sitting 
President resigns, dies or is removed from office.  Previously, 
Latvia had no legal arrangements for selecting a new President in 
these situations. 
 
¶6. Comment: Until now the only effective legal norms regulating 
presidential elections have been provided by the Constitution. The 
repeated calls of President Vike-Freiberga to set clear procedures 
and deadlines for presidential elections were ignored by politicians 
until the President exercised her rights to order a national 
referendum concerning the controversial amendments to the security 
laws in March. In response, the Saeima not only abolished the 
adopted amendments to the security laws, but also adopted the 
Presidential Election Law. While the law was designed to increase 
transparency in the election process and allow for greater public 
discussion of candidates, there remains little clarity about who the 
candidates will be.  To date, only the coalition-leading People's 
Party (TP) and opposition New Era (JL) have put forward names. TP 
has nominated Maris Riekstins, fomer Latvian Ambassador to the US 
and current chief of staff to the Prime Minister  JL has put forward 
former FM and EU commissioner Sandra Kalniete. Other names that have 
surfaced include EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, President of the 
Bank of Latvia Ilmars Rimsevics, judge of the European Court of 
Justice Egils Levits, former Chair of the Constitutional Court 
Aivars Endzins, Chair of the Supreme Court Andris Gulans, and head 
of the Latvian Institute Ojars Kalnins.  However, none of these 
candidates have been openly supported by any political party. 
 
BAILEY