Yesterday’s early parliamentary elections in Latvia took place in a democratic and pluralistic environment and were marked by the rule of law, respect of fundamental freedoms, and functioning democratic institutions, observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement issued today.
“This election has been run professionally and voters were provided a genuine choice between parties offering different platforms,” said Konrad Olszewski, the head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission.
The observers noted that some political parties made efforts to reach out to both main linguistic communities, although parties are still broadly perceived as representing either Latvian speakers or the considerable Russian-speaking minority, many of whom are non-citizens.
While it is admissible to restrict voting rights to citizens, it remains a challenge that non-citizens, constituting some 16 per cent of Latvia’s adult population, do not participate in the electoral process and are left without representation.