Latvia's First Party

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The Latvia's First Party (Latvijas Pirmā Partija) is a political party in Latvia.

It was founded in May 25, 2002, led by Ēriks Jēkabsons and Ainārs Šlesers. Using populist promises and the support and involvement of the Lutheran church, it won 9.5% of the popular vote and 10 out of 100 seats at the legislative elections of October 5, 2002 and joined all the coalitions since that time. At the 2006 elections it ran together with Latvian Way; the bloc took 8.58% but also won 10 seats in parliament.

The first chairman of party, Ēriks Jēkabsons, resigned as Minister of the Interior. Later, due to various disagreements about the direction that the party was taking, he left the party itself and became an independent MP.

Latvia's Prime Minister, Aigars Kalvītis, demanded that the Transport Minister (and de facto leader of the Latvia's First party) Ainārs Šlesers resign his post after the latter became enmeshed in a vote-buying scandal involving the Jurmala City Council.

The resignation was triggered by revelations that Šlesers was aware of, if not involved in, an attempt to bribe a politician in Jurmala following the 2005 municipal election. Transcripts of phone conversations between Šlesers and a Jurmala businessman, and then of former Prime Minister Andris Šķēle and the same businessman, were broadcast on national TV on March 12, 2006.

It appears from the cryptic texts that an attempt was being made to sway the balance of power on the Jurmala City Council in favor of a Juris Hlevickis, a mayoral candidate from the Latvia's First Party.

The news shook up the political scene in Latvia and quickly became the most significant political scandal since the country joined the European Union in 2004.