15th Saeima Elections: Main Intrigues and Participants

Basic Information

The 15th Saeima elections will take place from September 28 to October 3, 2026. Parties must submit candidate lists by July 5. Postal voting will be available from August 29 to September 25 on the portal Latvia.gov.lv. Latvia has five electoral regions: Riga, Vidzeme, Zemgale, Latgale, and Kurzeme. Each party must create separate lists for each region. Voters can cast their ballot at any polling station, but can give a plus or minus vote only to candidates in their region. Results are aggregated nationwide, but regional results determine which specific candidates are elected.

Current Coalition and Opposition

The current coalition consists of four parties: the United List (candidate for prime minister Andris Kulbergs), the National Alliance (leader Ilze Indriksone), New Unity (leader not yet chosen), and the Union of Greens and Farmers (leader Viktors Valainis). The opposition includes three parties: Latvia First (Ainārs Šlesers), the Progressives (Andris Šuvajevs), and Stability! (de facto leader Svetlana Čulkova; former leader Aleksejs Rosļikovs has fled to Belarus).

Newcomers and Returnees

Two new parties are seeking to enter the Saeima: Sovereign Power, which already holds seats in the Riga City Council, and Alvis Hermanis' initiative "We Change the Rules," which advocates for changing the voting system. Two parties that were in the 13th Saeima but failed to enter the 14th hope to return: For the Development of Latvia and the Harmony Centre (now again under this name, led by Jānis Urbanovičs).

Main Intrigues

First intrigue: Is a coalition without New Unity possible? The United List, National Alliance, and ZZS form a conservative bloc, but a three-party coalition would need more than 50 seats. Second intrigue: The future of the Latvia First party. It is the most popular party in polls, but its leader Ainārs Šlesers has stated he will not cooperate with several parties, while the National Alliance and United List label it as pro-Russian. Third intrigue: Who will lead New Unity's list? Possible candidates include Edmunds Jurēvics, Arvils Ašeradens, and even Valdis Dombrovskis.