Latvian exit poll predicts old foes on the way to Brussels

Latvian exit poll predicts old foes on the way to BrusselsRiga - An ongoing economic crisis and a high-profile battle for the powerful position of mayor of the Latvian capital, Riga, were enough to bring out large numbers of voters in the Baltic state on Saturday.

The mayoral vote, plus other municipal elections, were held on the same day as the elections to the European Parliament.

Turnout was much healthier than in most other parts of the EU, passing 50 per cent of the electorate nearly two hours before polls closed at 10 PM (1900 GMT).

A BNS/LTV exit poll predicted the largely ethnically Russian Harmony Centre (SC) party gained the largest share of the European Parliament vote with 20 per cent, followed by the centre-right Civic Union (PS) on 19 per cent and the strongly pro-Russian For Human Rights in a United Latvia (PCTVL) on 13 per cent.

Latvia returns eight members to the European Parliament and if the exit poll proves accurate one of that number will be Alfreds Rubiks, the last leader of the Latvian Communist party, who was jailed for leading an attempted coup to restore Soviet power when Latvia regained its independence in 1991. Rubiks was standing on the ticket of the Harmony Centre.

Joining him in Brussels will be a former adversary, Ivars Godmanis, whose Latvia First/Latvia's Way (LPP/LC) was predicted to be placed fourth with 12 per cent of the vote.

Godmanis was a leading figure in Latvia's independence movement and has served two terms as prime minister, the second of them ending with his resignation earlier this year as Latvia plunged into the European Union's deepest recession.(dpa)