Saeima
Encyclopedia
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, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in September 2011
.
The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it
involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On May 28, 2011, president Valdis Zatlers
decided to initiate the dissolution of the current Saeima, which was to be decided in a referendum. The Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011.
The current Speaker of the Saeima
is Solvita Āboltiņa
.
The word "Saeima" meaning "a gathering, a meeting, a council" was constructed by the Young Latvian
Juris Alunāns
. It stems from the archaic Latvian
word eima meaning "to go" (derived from the PIE
*ei "to go" and also a cognate with the Ancient Greek eimi, Gaulish
eimu among others)
Deputies are elected to represent one of five constituencies: Kurzeme
(13 deputies), Latgale
(15), Riga
(30), Vidzeme
(27), and Zemgale (15). Seats are distributed in each constituency by open list
proportional representation
among the parties that overcome a 5% national election threshold
.
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the Republic of 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 is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
, with seats allocated to political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in September 2011
Latvian parliamentary election, 2011
An early parliamentary election was held in Latvia on 17 September 2011, following the country's first parliamentary dissolution referendum held on 23 July 2011. The last parliamentary election was held only in October 2010....
.
The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it
Parliamentary dissolution power of Latvian President
The Constitution of Latvia, ratified on February 15, 1922, contains a provision regarding one of the reserve powers of the President of Latvia to initiate the dissolution of the parliament. According to Article 48-50 of the Constitution,...
involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On May 28, 2011, president Valdis Zatlers
Valdis Zatlers
Valdis Zatlers is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007...
decided to initiate the dissolution of the current Saeima, which was to be decided in a referendum. The Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011.
The current Speaker of the Saeima
Speaker of the Saeima
The Speaker of the Saeima is the speaker of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. In the case when President of Latvia is not in the country or unable to perform their duties, the Speaker acts interim President....
is Solvita Āboltiņa
Solvita Āboltiņa
Solvita Āboltiņa is a Latvian politician. She is a member of the New Era Party and a deputy of the 9th Saeima . She began her current term in parliament on November 7, 2006, and has been speaker since 2010....
.
The word "Saeima" meaning "a gathering, a meeting, a council" was constructed by the Young Latvian
Young Latvians
Young Latvians is the term most often applied to the intellectuals of the first Latvian National Awakening , active from the 1850s to the 1880s. "Jaunlatvieši" is also sometimes translated as "New Latvians," but "Young Latvians" is the more accurate term because it was modeled on the Young Germany...
Juris Alunāns
Juris Alunāns
Juris Alunāns was a Latvian writer, philologist and one of the first contributors of Latvian language. He was one of the members of the Young Latvia movement....
. It stems from the archaic Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
word eima meaning "to go" (derived from the PIE
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
*ei "to go" and also a cognate with the Ancient Greek eimi, Gaulish
Gaulish language
The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...
eimu among others)
Deputies are elected to represent one of five constituencies: Kurzeme
Kurzeme
Kurzeme is the Latvian name for Courland, a historical region of Latvia.It may also refer to:* Kurzeme District, Riga, an administrative district of Riga, Latvia* Kurzeme Region, a planning region of Latvia...
(13 deputies), Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava River...
(15), Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
(30), Vidzeme
Vidzeme
Vidzeme is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. Literally meaning "the Middle Land" it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River...
(27), and Zemgale (15). Seats are distributed in each constituency by open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
among the parties that overcome a 5% national election threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
.