Our member Vladlens Kovalevs, Managing Partner of VA Government has compiled the Report on the 13th Parliamentary election. 

The 13th Parliamentary election took place on October 6 and now ahead of us lies the probably the hardest coalition forming as 7 parties have been elected in the Parliament. 

This election has often been regarded as, potentially, the most transforming election we have had in Latvia since the restoration of our independence. We would like to believe that this supports an idea that we are in the middle of transformation of the whole political ecosystem and its various stakeholders - be it politicians, civil servants, government relations professionals and others. Political agenda and its actors are changing, and the market has to adapt.

Key facts:

• In the 13th Parliament election in total seven political parties overcame the 5% barrier ensuring their seats in the Parliament; 
• The number of elected parties is the highest since the 6th Parliament election, creating one of the most fragmented Parliaments in the recent history;
• All three current coalition parties have lost considerable number of seats (now only 27 per cent of votes), however there is a considerable probability that they will be part of a new coalition;
• This election had low voter turnout rate - only 54.6 per cent of the citizens in the voting age participated - in total 845'196;
• The pro-Russian party Harmony won the election, followed by a populist party KPV LV and the New Conservative Party;
• This year there was high popularity for the populist party as they were the leaders in Kurzeme and Zemgale regions. Harmony was the most popular in Riga and the New Conservative Party won the Vidzeme region;
• This Parliament has one of the highest women's representation -  31 out of 100 MPs elected are women; Only one third of current MPs will continue working in the new Parliament.