Poll: Seven parties could clear 5% threshold for Latvia's parliament, with ruling New Unity teetering

A September poll conducted by "Latvijas fakti" in cooperation with "Faktu logs" suggests seven parties could win seats in Latvia's parliament if elections were held now. The survey questioned 1,018 Latvian citizens.

When recalculated among respondents who had a definite party preference, the results show Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs' party AS leading with 23.8% support, followed by "Latvia First" (LPV) at 12.9% and "Progressives" at 12.4%. Next come the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) at 10.6%, the National Alliance at 8.9%, and "Sovereign Power/New Latvians" (SV/J) at 8.7%.

New Unity nears the threshold

In seventh place is "New Unity" (JV) with 6.2%, a party whose support has declined in recent weeks, putting it close to the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament. Counting all respondents rather than only those with a settled choice, JV's support stood at 4.2% in September, down from 5.9% in August, while support for the other six parties remained broadly stable or edged up slightly.

Parties that would remain outside parliament include "For the Development of Latvia," "We Change the Rules" and "For Stability," each with 2.2% support among all respondents, the "Harmony Centre" with 1.8%, and "Rising Sun for Latvia," the Gobzems list and the New Conservative Party, each polling at around 1% or below.

Many still undecided

In September, 20% of respondents had not yet decided which party to support, while 12.9% said they would not vote at all. In August those figures stood at 23.1% and 10.7% respectively, suggesting slightly greater certainty among voters as election day approaches.

The 15th Saeima elections are scheduled for the first Saturday of October.