Social Democratic Party (Latvia)

Not to be confused with Latvian Social Democratic Union.

The Social Democratic Party (Latvian: Sociāldemokrātiskā partija, SDP; formerly Social Democratic Union, Latvian: Sociāldemokrātu savienība, SDS) was a political party in Latvia formed by a splinter group from the Latvian Social Democratic Labour Party (LSDSP) after the leader of the LSDSP faction in the Saeima, Egils Baldzēns, lost to Juris Bojārs in the elections for party chairman on 27 October 2001. The major factor in the schism was the increasing intimacy between the LSDSP and the For Human Rights in United Latvia Bloc, considered to be excessively pro-Russian by the more nationalist members in Baldzēns' breakaway wing of the party. The newly formed SDS held its founding congress in Riga on 24 March 2002. In the 2002 election, the party won 1.5% of the popular vote and no seats. The last leader of the party was Egils Rutkovskis.

Social Democratic Party Sociāldemokrātiskā partija
Abbreviation	SDS (2002–2008) SDP (2008–2010)
Leader	Egils Rutkovskis
Founder	Egils Baldzēns
Founded	24 March 2002 (2002-03-24)
Dissolved	10 February 2010 (2010-02-10)
Split from	Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party
Merged into	Social Democratic Party "Harmony"
Headquarters	Riga, Basteja bulvārī 12 (2.stāvā), LV-1050.
Youth wing	Jaunatnes Sociāldemokrātiskā Savienība
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	Harmony Centre (2009–2010)
International affiliation	Socialist International[1]
Colours	Red
Website
socialdemokrati.lv
Politics of Latvia Political parties Elections

In January 2009, the party joined the Harmony Centre coalition.^[2] It merged into the Harmony party in 2010.

Election results

Legislative elections

Election	Party leader	Performance					Rank	Government
		Votes	%	± pp	Seats	+/–
2002	Egils Baldzēns	15,162	1.53	New	0 / 100	New	10th	Extra-parliamentary
2006	Pēteris Salkazanovs	Did not contest						Extra-parliamentary
2010	Egils Rutkovskis	251,400	26.61	25.08	0 / 100	0	2nd	Extra-parliamentary[a]

1. Harmony Centre list won 29 seats - 24 went to SDPS - 4 went to SPL - 1 to DCP

European Parliament elections

Election	Party leader	Performance					Rank
		Votes	%	± pp	Seats	+/–
2004	Pēteris Salkazanovs	1,988	0.35	New	0 / 8	New	16th
2009	Alfrēds Rubiks	154,894	19.93	19.58	0 / 8	0	2nd[a]

1. Harmony Centre list won 2 seats - 1 went to TSP - 1 to LSP

References

1. "Sociāldemokrātu Savienība - SDS". www.socialdemokrati.lv. Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
2. (in Latvian) http://www.saskanascentrs.lv/index.php?text&id=39&level=1&cid=482&do=news (in Russian)http://www.saskanascentrs.lv/index.php?text&id=39&level=1&cid=482&do=news

External links

• Official web site^{[permanent dead link]}