Tautas Padome

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Tautas Padome (Latvia's People's Council) was a temporary council which declared Latvia's independence in 1918 and then acted as a temporary parliament until a Constitutional Assembly (Satversmes Sapulce) was elected.

Tautas Padome was formed on November 17, 1918 as a result of merging two councils of Latvian organizations: the Temporary National Council of Latvia (Latvijas Pagaidu Nacionala Padome or LPNP) and the Democratic Bloc (Demokratiskais Bloks). Originally, Tautas Padome had 40 members representing all the major Latvian political organizations, except the far right and the far left (communists). It was later expanded to 245 representatives.

On November 18, 1918, Tautas Padome declared Latvia an independent country. It had Jānis Čakste as its chairman and Kārlis Ulmanis as the prime minister of the temporary government. Tautas Padome acted as a temporary parliament of Latvia until May 1, 1920 when the Constitutional Assembly (Satversmes Sapulce) was elected.

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