Latvia: Latvians went to the polls today, as the Baltic nation emerges from a savage economic slump, with polls showing the Moscow-tied left being poised for big gains.
The general election was a crucial test for 39-year-old Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis -- Europe's youngest government head -- who has brought in deep spending
cuts and tax hikes to stick to the terms of an international bailout for the Baltic state.
Polls were to close at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT).
Dombrovskis struck a confident tone after casting his ballot, noting surveys showed his minority coalition could win a majority with around 60 seats in the 100-member parliament, up from its current 47.
In a pre-election interview with AFP, Dombrovskis dubbed the vote a watershed.
"Will we continue and successfully conclude the Latvian economic stabilisation programme or will we turn back to uncertainty and economic instability? I think that's the
key issue," he said.
The European Union nation of 2.2 million, whose double-digit growth of the past decade seems a lifetime ago, has inched into recovery this year. In a working-class district of the capital Riga, a 65-year-old woman who only gave her name as Daina, told AFP she backed Dombrovskis's Unity movement.
“I voted for them because Dombrovskis works well," she said, noting that she still had a job despite passing retirement age. Grocery store assistant Inga, 45, was a grudging
supporter. "I'm not happy with them, but I don't see an alternative," she said.
Juris Vaicunas, 63, said that as in previous elections, he picked the nationalist For Fatherland and Freedom movement, a coalition member.
AFP
First Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 00:06