A longtime Latvian political party—once a darling among voters in the homeland and abroad—has thrown in the towel.

During its 15th annual congress on July 9 in Rīga, and at the urging of its leader Andris Šķēle, the conservative People’s Party (Tautas partija) voted to disband.

Meanwhile, former President Valdis Zatlers is readying his own political party, which would be expected to field candidates in a parliamentary election later this year should a July 23 referendum on dissolving the current Saeima succeed.

Šķēle, one of three oligarchs whose power in Latvian politics has been under fire, urged his party to close down in the face of not only its low ratings in opinion polls, but because the movement has suffered insurmountable damage to its reputation.

Referring to the party’s trademark color, Šķēle told the congress that “orange has become the new black,” according to a transcript of his speech posted on the party’s website.

“No matter what kind of proposals come from our party,” Šķēle said, “no matter what ideas our people express—no matter if they are a Saeima deputy, a city mayor, a rank-and-file member or just a simple supporter—what they say is taken as if it were a message from an apocalyptic monster.”

The party also faces having to pay nearly LVL 1.03 million to the government for allegedly violating Latvia’s campaign finance rules. The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs) found that the party illegally received and spent the money during the 2006 parliamentary election. The party has appealed the ruling.

Formed in 1998, the People’s Party appeared to represent a break from the political stagnation in which Latvia found itself just a few years after regaining its independence. The party presented itself as conservative and oriented to reform. At its head was Šķēle, who was viewed as a successful businessman.

In the 1998 parliamentary election, the People’s Party scored 21.19 percent of the vote and earned 24 seats in the Saeima. Among the 10,008 voters abroad, 33 percent supported the People’s Party, second to the more conservative For Fatherland and Freedom (Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK), which garnered 46 percent of diaspora balloting. MPs elected from the People’s Party included Vaira Paegle, who had spent most of her exile years in the United States.

Zatlers readies new party

Zatlers, whose term in office ended July 7, announced on July 9 that his next step in politics will be formation of the Reform Party.

The former surgeon, much criticized when he was elected president four years ago, has become a folk hero in Latvia. His announcement May 28 that he was using his consitutional power to call for the dissolution of the Saeima came just a week before his possible reelection by the parliament.

Zatlers lost the vote to Andris Bērziņš, a member of the Union of Greens and Farmers (Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība) who took the presidential oath of office on July 8.

However, Zatlers is riding a wave of popularity ahead of the July 23 referendum. (Under the Latvian constitution, the president may initiate a national referendum on dissolving the parliament.) Should the referendum succeed—and many observers believe it will—a new parliamentary election would be scheduled for the autumn.

Zatlers told a July 9 press conference in Rīga that the party will be formally founded on July 23, according to press reports.

A 22-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman have been arrested in Latvia for their alleged involvement in a “scareware” scheme that tricked online readers of the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis into buying fake antivirus software.

U.S. Department of Justice officials announced June 22 that Pēteris Šahurovs and Marina Maslobojeva were arrested June 21 in Rēzekne, Latvia, as part Operation Trident Tribunal—an international effort to battle cybercrime.

The two are charged with two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of computer fraud, according to a Department of Justice press release. Šahurovs and Maslobojeva are alleged to have led the Latvia-based scheme, but federal authorities suspect others were involved, too.

They allegedly created a phony advertising agency named RevolTech that claimed to represent a hotel that wanted to buy advertising on the Star Tribune website, startribune.com. Once the advertising began to run, Šahurovs and Maslobojeva changed the ad’s programming code. Visitors to the website saw their computers freeze up and pop-up messages appear offering what turned out to be fake anti-virus software costing USD 49.95, according to the grand jury indictmenta filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

“Users’ computers unfroze’ if the users paid the defendants for the fake antivirus software, but the malicious software remained hidden on their computers,” according to the Justice Department press release. “Users who failed to purchase the fake antivirus software found that all information, data and files stored on the computer became inaccessible.”

At the Star Tribune, meanwhile, staff had to pull all advertising from the website until it was determined which advertisement was causing problems for users.

The scam ran from about February to September of last year and allegedly led to at least USD 2 million in losses for customers, according to the indictment.

In addition to the arrests of Šahurovs and Maslobojeva, authorities seized more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts in the United States, Latvia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Lithuania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Operation Trident Tribunal also targeted an international criminal group that infected hundreds of thousands of computers with “scareware,” selling more than USD 72 million in fake antivirus software to unsuspecting clients, according to the Department of Justice. About 960,000 computer users became victims of the scam during a three-year period.

“The global reach of the Internet makes every computer user in the world a potential victim of cybercrime,” Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, said in a statement. “Addressing cybercrime requires international cooperation; and in this case, the FBI, collaborating with our international law enforcement and prosecution partners, has worked tirelessly to disrupt two significant cybercriminal networks. Their efforts demonstrate that no matter the country, Internet criminals will be pursued, caught and prosecuted.”

If convicted on the wire fraud and conspiracy charges, Šahurovs and Maslobojeva could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and USD 250,000 in fines. Conviction on the computer fraud charge could lead to a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and USD 250,000 in fines. They also could be required to pay restitution and lose their illegal profits, according to the Department of Justice.

(Updated 23 JUN 2011 with details from the indictment.)

A record number of polling stations abroad—78 in all—will operate July 23 for Latvian citizens to vote in a referendum that could result in dissolution of the parliament, or Saeima.

The Central Election Commission in Rīga announced June 21 that it has approved a Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposal to operate polling stations in 41 countries outside Latvia. In last October’s parliamentary vote, during which the legislators who may now lose their jobs were elected, 64 polling stations operated abroad.

The increase in polling stations is due to not enough time being available for voters abroad to apply for mail ballots, election commission Chairman Arnis Cimdars said in a press release. Applications for mail ballots are due July 1.

The referendum is the result of President Valdis Zatlers calling May 28 for dissolution of the parliament. If the referendum succeeds, the 10th Saeima will be dissolved and new elections will be called. If the referendum fails, according to the Latvian constitution, the president instead must step down. However, in Zatlers’ case that would be moot, because his four-year term expires July 7. Zatlers failed to win re-election during a June 2 vote in the Saeima.

In the United States, polling stations will be open in the embassy in Washington, D.C., and in Latvia’s representative office in New York, as well as in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Seattle, and the Latvian Center Gaŗezers near Three Rivers, Mich.

Voters in Canada will be able to decide on the referendum in the Latvian embassy in Ottawa as well as in polling stations in Toronto and Montréal.

In the United Kingdom, voters in London will be able to visit the Latvian embassy, while additional polling stations will operate in Bradford, Mansfield and Peterborough; in Newry, Northern Ireland; and at the Straumēni rest home in Catthorpe.

Voters in Ireland will be able to cast ballots in the Latvian embassy in Dublin as well as in Limerick.

Denmark for the first time will see two polling stations: one in the Latvian embassy in Copenhagen and another in Vejle in the west central part of the country.

Sweden will see polling stations open in the embassy in Stockholm and in Göteborg.

Voters in Germany will have seven choices: the embassy in Berlin and polling stations in Bonn, Esslingen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Münster.

In Australia, polling stations are to be open in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

The other countries where polling stations will be open are Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Chile, China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. Voters must be at least 18 years old and must bring a valid Latvian passport to the polling station.

Vote by mail deadline

Voters will not be in Latvia or cannot visit one of the polling stations abroad will be able to make their referendum choice by mail.

Mail ballot requests must be sent to one of the 23 Latvian embassies or consulates that are handling registrations. The requests must include a completed application form and a valid Latvian passport.

The application form and complete instructions are available on the website of the Central Election Commission.

The election commission also provides a list of the 23 offices accepting mail ballot requests.