Parliament of Latvia
| Saeima | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
|
Speaker
|
|
| Structure | |
| Seats | 100 |
 |
|
|
Political groups
|
Government (61)
Opposition (39) |
| Elections | |
| Open list proportional representation with a 5% election threshold | |
|
Last election
|
4 October 2014 |
|
Next election
|
2018 or earlier |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| House of the Livonian Noble Corporation, Riga | |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Government (61)
Opposition (39)
The Saeima (Latvian pronunciation: [ˈsa.ɛi.ma]) is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in October 2014.
The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On May 28, 2011, president Valdis Zatlers decided to initiate the dissolution of the Saeima, which was approved in a referendum, and the Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011.
The current Speaker of the Saeima is Ināra Mūrniece.
Deputies are elected to represent one of five constituencies: Kurzeme (13 deputies), Latgale (15), Riga (30), Vidzeme (27), and Zemgale (15). Seats are distributed in each constituency by open list proportional representation among the parties that overcome a 5% national election threshold using an unmodified version of the Sainte-Laguë method.
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Wikipedia