Latvia's United List wins 41 of 100 seats in Saeima vote

United List, the party of Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, won Saturday's parliamentary election with about 35% of the vote. It took 41 of the 100 seats in the Saeima, Latvia's parliament, according to the count by The Kyiv Independent. It is the largest bloc any party has held since Latvia regained independence in 1991, but it is ten seats short of the 51 needed for a majority.

The figure is not final. BNN reported 42 seats in its first count, though that number, added to the rest, comes to 101. It still has to be confirmed with Latvia's Central Election Commission.

Latvia First, a populist right-wing party, came second with about 13% and 17 seats. Sovereign Power and the Association of Young Latvians won 15, the National Alliance 10, The Progressives 10 and New Unity 7. The Union of Greens and Farmers, which had been in government, fell short of the 5% threshold and is out of parliament for the first time. Turnout was 51.8%, the lowest since 1991.

Kulbergs had governed since May, when his predecessor, Evika Siliņa, resigned after Ukrainian drones fell on Latvian territory. According to UPI, he read the result as a call for change and put the economy and the future of Latvia's children first. The campaign centered on inflation, the troubles of the airline airBaltic and irregular migration that Riga blames on an operation by Russia and Belarus.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Kulbergs and said the result reflects Latvians' confidence in his leadership. Latvia, a member of the EU and NATO, borders Russia and Belarus and has raised defense spending to 5% of GDP. Before the vote, the preview of election day had already pointed to a difficult coalition.

UPI notes that either the National Alliance or The Progressives would be enough to reach a majority. No source says whom Kulbergs will negotiate with or when.