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Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš casting his vote in the town of Sigulda
Photo: GINTS IVUSKANS / AFP
War in Ukraine, inflation, energy crisis: It is not an easy time when Latvia has elected a new parliament.
According to forecasts, a victory for the governing party of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš is on the horizon.
However, his liberal-conservative Jauna Vienotiba and her three allies are likely to lose their majority in the Saeima parliament in Riga.
A total of eight parties could therefore make it into the parliament of the EU and NATO country.
The first official results are expected on Sunday night.
According to the joint post-election survey by Latvian radio and the Leta news agency, Jauna Vienotiba could expect 22.5 percent of the votes - and thus become the strongest force in the new parliament in Riga.
It was followed in second place by the newly founded electoral alliance United List with 11.5 percent, ahead of the opposition Alliance of Farmers and Greens with 10.9 percent.
Only two of Kariņš' three coalition partners make it into parliament: the national-conservative National Alliance (8.4 percent) and the liberal For Development / For!
(5.2 percent).
The current centre-right government would no longer have a majority.
The opposition party Harmonie - the strongest political force in Latvia to date - is not among the parties likely to enter parliament.
The party, whose core voters come mainly from the strong minority of Russian origin, won the most votes in the last elections, but was always left out when the government was formed.
After the vote, Kariņš indicated that he would also lead the coming government.
"I voted for a safe and stable Latvia," he said at the polling station.
The election campaign was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Latvia sees as a direct threat to national security.
The Baltic state borders on Russia and its ally Belarus.
Russia's invasion has also raised thorny issues in Latvia.
These include the use of the Russian language, the loyalty of ethnic Russians in Latvia and a debate on the national culture of remembrance.
Almost 6,500 voters were asked about their vote for the forecast.
The parties were initially only cautious about the results – the post-election polls in the past elections had not proven to be very reliable.
Around 1.5 million eligible voters were asked to cast their votes.
Nineteen parties and alliances contested the tenth election since Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
ani/dpa