Union of Greens and Farmers
Encyclopedia
Union of Greens and Farmers is a green
/agrarian
and conservative political alliance in Latvia
. It consists of two political parties: Latvian Farmers' Union
and the Green Party of Latvia . It is the third-largest party in the Saeima
.
In contrast to the mostly left-wing green
political movement in Western and Central Europe, ZZS is a centre
alliance. While the alliance's formal leader is Raimonds Vējonis
, its leading figure and chief financial supporter is Aivars Lembergs
.
. It ran on an ideologically amorphous agenda and won 12 out of 100 seats in the parliament. In March 2004, Indulis Emsis
from the Green Party became the Prime Minister of Latvia
.
On a European scale, the Green Party cooperates with the European Federation of Green Parties/European Free Alliance and the Farmer's Union cooperates with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. Before the European Parliament election, 2004
, ZZS announced that, if its representative was elected, he would join one of the two groups, depending on which of the two Latvian parties he belonged to. ZZS failed to gather the 5% of votes necessary to gain a seat in European Parliament and thus no ZZS member was elected.
The alliance continued for the 2006 elections, and won 18 seats. It is part of the governing coalition, and green party chairman Indulis Emsis
, who served as prime minister briefly in 2004, became speaker of parliament.
Lembergs was the candidate of The Union of Greens and Farmers for the position of Prime Minister in 2006, before being charged with corruption, fraud, bribery, money laundering and abuse of elected office on July 20, 2006. On March 14, 2007, Lembergs was detained by the Latvian authorities in relation to a criminal investigation.
The alliance is eurosceptic
. The party opposes granting all non-citizens
Latvian citizenship or voting rights in local elections.
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
/agrarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
and conservative political alliance in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. It consists of two political parties: Latvian Farmers' Union
Latvian Farmers' Union
The Latvian Farmers' Union is a centrist agrarian political party in Latvia. Founded in 1917, it was the most influential right-wing political party between the two World Wars, during the period of Latvian independence from the Russian SFSR in 1918 until its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940,...
and the Green Party of Latvia . It is the third-largest party in the Saeima
Saeima
Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years,...
.
In contrast to the mostly left-wing green
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
political movement in Western and Central Europe, ZZS is a centre
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
alliance. While the alliance's formal leader is Raimonds Vējonis
Raimonds Vejonis
Raimonds Vējonis is a Latvian politician of the Green Party and the incumbent Minister of the Environment of Latvia.He has a Masters in biology from the University of Latvia.-References:...
, its leading figure and chief financial supporter is Aivars Lembergs
Aivars Lembergs
Aivars Lembergs is a Latvian politician and businessman, who has been the mayor of Ventspils since 1988. Since 2008 he has faced a long-running investigation for bribery, money laundering and abuse of office; he vehemently denies all wrongdoing. Lembergs was born in Jēkabpils, Latvia, to...
.
History
The alliance was established before the 2002 parliamentary electionLatvian parliamentary election, 2002
Elections for 8th Saeima, the parliament of Latvia were held on October 5, 2002. There were lists of candidates from 20 political parties, with a total of 1019 candidates. The voter participation was 71.51%, with 997,754 out of 1,395,287 eligible voters casting votes.Out of the 20 parties...
. It ran on an ideologically amorphous agenda and won 12 out of 100 seats in the parliament. In March 2004, Indulis Emsis
Indulis Emsis
Indulis Emsis is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeima, the Latvian parliament from 2006 to 2007...
from the Green Party became the Prime Minister of Latvia
Prime Minister of Latvia
The Prime Minister of Latvia is the most powerful member of the Government of the Republic of Latvia, and presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers...
.
On a European scale, the Green Party cooperates with the European Federation of Green Parties/European Free Alliance and the Farmer's Union cooperates with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. Before the European Parliament election, 2004
European Parliament election, 2004 (Latvia)
The European Parliament election of 2004 in Latvia was the election of MEP representing Latvia constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 12....
, ZZS announced that, if its representative was elected, he would join one of the two groups, depending on which of the two Latvian parties he belonged to. ZZS failed to gather the 5% of votes necessary to gain a seat in European Parliament and thus no ZZS member was elected.
The alliance continued for the 2006 elections, and won 18 seats. It is part of the governing coalition, and green party chairman Indulis Emsis
Indulis Emsis
Indulis Emsis is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeima, the Latvian parliament from 2006 to 2007...
, who served as prime minister briefly in 2004, became speaker of parliament.
Lembergs was the candidate of The Union of Greens and Farmers for the position of Prime Minister in 2006, before being charged with corruption, fraud, bribery, money laundering and abuse of elected office on July 20, 2006. On March 14, 2007, Lembergs was detained by the Latvian authorities in relation to a criminal investigation.
Ideology
The alliance is based on similar sentimental feelings shared by the voters of the two parties. Latvians are supportive of traditional small farms and perceive them as more environmentally friendly than large-scale farming: Nature is threatened by development, while small farms are threatened by large industrial-scale farms. This perception has resulted in an alliance between green and farmer's parties, which is very rare in other countries.The alliance is eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
. The party opposes granting all non-citizens
Non-citizens (Latvia)
Non-citizens in Latvian law are individuals who are not citizens of Latvia or any other country but, who, in accordance with the Latvian law "Regarding the status of citizens of the former USSR who possess neither Latvian nor other citizenship", have the right to a non-citizen passport issued by...
Latvian citizenship or voting rights in local elections.