Thirteen parties can apply for public funding in Latvia

Take note – story published 1 year ago

This week, parties can apply for public funding in accordance with their results in the 14th Saeima elections. The money from the state will be received by 13 parties. Seven of them have overcome the 5% barrier to get elected into the Saeima, Latvian Television reported November 1.

The largest funding will be available for New Unity, with a maximum of €800 000 per year. The funding will accordingly be €605 000 for the Union of Greens and Farmers, €539 000 for the United List, €474 000 per year for the National Alliance, For Stability! – €375 000, €352 000 for the Latvia First, and €348 000 for Progressives.

State funding will also be due to parties that did not get elected but gained at least 2% of the electorate's votes. There, Development/For!, which was just behind the line, can get €202 000 a year, Harmony – €194 000, For Each and Every One  – €148 000, Latvian Russian Union – €147 000, Sovereign Power – €130 000 and Conservative – €125,000 a year.

Ten years ago, following European practice, Latvia introduced the financing of parties from the budget, linking the size of the money to its success in elections. However, the amounts were so small that, according to political scientists, there was little change in the dependency on sponsors.After the previous Saeima elections in 2018, when deciding on the 2020 budget, the Saeima decided to increase funding for parties from EUR 600,000 to EUR 4.5 million.

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