HC dominates Riga pre-election polls

  • 2010-09-14
  • TBT Staff

The survey found HC has nearly twice as much support in Riga as their nearest rival.

RIGA -- A recent poll in the Latvian capital of Riga has found that the left-leaning Harmony Center party is by far the most popular party ahead of national elections early next month.

More than a quarter of survey respondents, 27.4%, said they would support HC in the coming elections, an increase of 1.1 percent over last month, national news agency LETA reported.

The next most popular party is the newly formed Unity Party with 14.3 percent, followed by For a Good Latvia with 5.8 percent, the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) with 4.4 percent, All for Latvia-For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK with 3.9 percent.

HC is already in power in the Riga municipal government, and the good poll results could be seen as a reflection on how the public views their work so far.

An HC victory in the elections would mark the first time that a pro-Russian rights party led Latvia since the country regained independence 20 years ago.

The survey was conducted by the "Nikolo grupa" agency, which questioned questioned 806 Riga residents aged 18-74.