Christian Democratic Union
Kristīgi demokrātiskā savienība
LeaderMāra Viktorija Zilgalve Secretary General Armands Agrums
Founded9 March 1991
HeadquartersSkolas ielā 21, Rīga, LV-1010
IdeologyChristian democracy[1]
Political positionCentre-right
National affiliationAwakening
European affiliationEuropean Christian Political Movement
ColoursOrange, Red
Saeima
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European Parliament
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Website
kds.lv

The Christian Democratic Union (Latvian: Kristīgi demokrātiskā savienība, KDS) is a minor Christian-democratic[1] political party in Latvia. It is a member of the Awakening alliance and is currently led by Māra Viktorija Zilgalve and Secretary General Armands Agrums.

History

The KDS was founded in 1991. The party participated in the 1993 Saeima election and obtained 5.0% of the vote and six seats. In the next parliamentary election in 1995 the party contested in alliance with the Latvian Farmers' Union and won 6.3% of the vote and eight seats. In 1998 it joined forces with the Workers' Party and the Latvian Green Party, in 2002 with Latvia's First Party and in 2006 with the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party.

In the 2010 legislative election it got just 0.36% of the votes and thus failed to overcome the 5% threshold.[2]

The two European elections in 2004 and 2009 were unsuccessful (0.4% and 0.3% of the vote respectively).[3][4]

The party formed the SKG Alliance with two other parties, the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party and Honor to Serve Our Latvia, to run together in the 2018 Saeima election.[5] After the Social Democrats later left, the alliance was renamed to Awakening.

Since 2019, the Awakening alliance has not participated in any elections.

Program

The party's platform is based on Christian values. Economically the Christian Democratic Union advocates the elimination of corruption, lower taxes, free enterprise, the strengthening of agriculture and the improvement of infrastructure.[6] The party favours the model of a social market economy in the tradition of Ludwig Erhard.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 9 October 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Par 10.Saeimas deputātu kandidātu sarakstiem nodotais derīgo vēlēšanu zīmju skaits un kandidātu sarakstu iegūtais vietu skaits 10.Saeimā". Archived from the original on 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  3. ^ "2004.gada Eiropas Parlamenta vēlēšanu rezultāti". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  4. ^ 2009.gada Eiropas Parlamenta vēlēšanu rezultāti Archived 2009-09-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 2)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. ^ "KRISTĪGI DEMOKRĀTISKĀS SAVIENĪBAS PROGRAMMA". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  7. ^ delfi.lv

External links

Political parties in Latvia
Authority control databases
Categories