Latvia's Prime Minister Kulbergs Won Saturday's Election With About 35 Percent as a Pro-Russian Party Came Third

Latvia's prime minister, Andris Kulbergs, has won a clear victory in Saturday's parliamentary election. With about 97 percent of ballots counted, Al Jazeera reports that his centrist, pro-Ukraine United List took 35.3 percent of the vote, well ahead of the populist Latvia First on 13.1 percent. Turnout was 51.8 percent, or about 800,000 voters.

The numbers

Al Jazeera puts Sovereign Power, a pro-Russian party, third on 11.7 percent and the hardline National Alliance fourth on 8.9 percent. In the 100-seat Saeima the United List is projected to hold roughly 41 to 42 seats, depending on the count. Earlier in the count, Kyiv Post had the United List slightly higher, at 36.6 percent with 88 percent counted, which shows how the figures settled as the last ballots came in. It was the country's 11th parliamentary election since independence from the Soviet Union.

Even at its strongest, the party falls short of an absolute majority, so coalition talks come next.

What Kulbergs said

At party headquarters in Riga, Kulbergs reacted to the exit polls. "It's remarkably good. I was not expecting such a result," he said, according to Kyiv Post. He has promised to maintain defence spending at 5 percent of GDP, one of the highest levels in NATO, and to continue military aid to Ukraine, and he opposed forming a coalition with Latvia First.