2003 Latvian presidential election explained

Election Name:2003 Latvian presidential election
Country:Latvia
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:grey
Previous Election:1999 Latvian presidential election
Previous Year:1999
Next Election:2007 Latvian presidential election
Next Year:2007
Election Date:June 20, 2003
Party Name:no
Nominee1:Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Party1:Independent
Popular Vote1:88
Map Size:300px
Map Alt:Votes by MPs
President
Before Election:Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Before Party:Independent
After Election:Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
After Party:Independent

Indirect presidential elections were held in Latvia on 20 June 2003. The incumbent, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, was re-elected by the Saeima to serve a second four-year term with an overwhelming majority.

Election process and results

The 2003 presidential election is currently (as of 2019) the only election after the restoration of the independence of Latvia with only a single candidate fielded. Votes were cast by secret ballot, with each MP entering the voting room one by one. Vīķe-Freiberga received the necessary number of votes in the first round, receiving 88 votes, becoming the third president to be re-elected after Jānis Čakste and Guntis Ulmanis and having received the 2nd highest number of votes in the election since Čakste in the 1922 elections.[1]

All members of parliament from the New Era Party, TB/LNNK, Union of Greens and Farmers, the Latvian First Party, People's Party and National Harmony Party, who had pledged support for the incumbent, took part in the vote. The fraction of the Socialist Party of Latvia had announced before that they will vote against the president, but the four deputies of For Human Rights in a United Latvia decided to be absent from the vote.[2]

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was sworn in on July 8, 2003.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Minutes of the session of the Saeima, 20 June 2003. saeima.lv. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20031006035436/http://www.saeima.lv:80/steno/2002_8/st_030620/st2006.htm . 2003-10-06 . 2019-11-09.
  2. Web site: Vairu Vīķi-Freibergu atkārtoti ievēlē Valsts prezidenta amatā. LETA. 2003-06-20. delfi.lv. lv. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is re-elected as president. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108110925/https://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/vairu-viki-freibergu-atkartoti-ievele-valsts-prezidenta-amata.d?id=5662967 . 2020-11-08 . 2019-11-09.
  3. Web site: Prezidente nodod zvērestu. LETA. 2003-07-08. delfi.lv. lv. The president delivers her oath of office. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108102914/https://www.delfi.lv/news/national/politics/prezidente-nodod-zverestu.d?id=5770035 . 2020-11-08 . 2019-11-09.