Stendzenieks: Voter disappointment with other parties drove Kulbergs' force's result
Riga City Council member Ēriks Stendzenieks believes many voters in the Saeima election chose out of disappointment with previous parties rather than for a specific platform. He warns that big euphoria is often followed by a heavy hangover.
Ēriks Stendzenieks, an advertising specialist and Riga City Council member for the party LPV, believes that in the 15th Saeima (Latvian parliament) election a large share of voters made their choice not so much for a specific political offer as out of disappointment with the forces that had been in play until now. He gave his assessment on the TV24 programme “Kārtības rullis”.
Euphoria and the “hangover”
Stendzenieks compared the election results to a general public euphoria, in which the thinking is that change will be dealt with later. In his words, it is often the case that the greater the euphoria, the heavier the hangover. He also pointed to the so-called Arab Spring, when initial enthusiasm gave way to political instability and chaos. In his view, however, such a scenario is not expected in Latvia.
Why Kulbergs' force did well
Stendzenieks said the political force represented by Andris Kulbergs won a notable number of seats precisely because the election took place now. Had it been held three months later, he said, Kulbergs could no longer have been so extremely surprised by the result. He said it was already visible in spring that this force could capitalise on disappointment among other parties' voters, and that the time before the election was so short that there was hardly any chance to spoil things.
According to Stendzenieks, before the vote some voters were disappointed with Vienotība (Unity), some with the National Alliance, and others with the Union of Greens and Farmers. As a result of these varied disappointments, voters from several political forces added up behind Kulbergs.
Hopes for a different split
Stendzenieks admitted he had himself hoped for a different distribution of voters. He had expected more Vienotība voters to go to Ivars Ījabs, but that did not happen.
