Mieriņa links ZZS election risk to inconsistent stance on values

Daiga Mieriņa, one of the leaders of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), says the party’s inconsistent position on values may be among the reasons it could fail to enter Latvia’s 15th Saeima. LSM reported that a voter survey conducted at polling stations did not put the party above the 5% threshold for seats.

ZZS has been represented in parliament for more than 20 years. Mieriņa, who is speaker of the 14th Saeima, said there was no single reason for the decline in the party’s support and that voters had not accepted its position on values issues. She said the party would review its performance after the election results were compiled, while adding that it still hoped to clear the threshold.

When joining Prime Minister Evika Siliņa’s government in 2023, ZZS agreed to support Latvia’s accession to the Istanbul Convention, which addresses violence in the family. Mieriņa said ZZS voters were conservative and that the party’s support for the convention had been the price of entering government.

She suggested, however, that the party’s later change of position may have mattered more than its vote on the convention. In October last year, ZZS joined the opposition in backing Latvia’s withdrawal from the convention, prompting widespread protests. After the president sent the issue back to parliament for reconsideration, it was left for the 15th Saeima to decide.

Mieriņa said the controversy had overshadowed the party’s achievements. The polling-station survey was conducted by LETA, LSM and Rīga Stradiņš University, with methodological support from the SKDS research centre.