Rīga remains one of the Top 50 most expensive cities in the world, according to a survey released June 13, but it’s not as costly as a year ago. The capital of Latvia ranks 48th in Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s 2004 survey, down from its ranking of 27 last year.

Using New York as the base, the London-based consultancy performed a March 2004 to determine a cost of living index for 144 cities around the world. The survey takes into account cost of housing, food, clothing and household goods as well as transportation and entertainment, according to a press release.

The most expensive city in the world, according to the survey, is Tokyo. London is the second-most expensive, while Moscow is No. 3. New York is 12th.

Just ahead of Rīga in the survey is Dakar, Senegal, while just behind is Prague, Czech Republic.

With the victory of opposition parties in Latvia’s first European Parliament election, political observers are saying the coalition government of Prime Minister Indulis Emsis may face its most serious challenge in its three-month existence.

As predicted by two exit polls, the conservative Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK (For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK) received the greatest number of votes in the June 12 election. In all, TB/LNNK got 29.82 percent of the total 574,674 ballots cast, according to official results announced by the Central Elections Commission in Rīga.

That means TB/LNNK will get to fill four of the nine seats Latvia has in the European Parliament.

Coming in second, with 19.68 percent of the vote, was the conservative Jaunais laiks (New Era), earning it two seats.

The leftist Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā (For Human Rights in United Latvia) got 10.71 percent of the vote, the conservative Tautas partija (People’s Party) earned 6.65 percent and the liberal Latvijas ceļš (Latvia’s Way) got 6.52 percent. Each party gets one seat in the Europarliament.

The remaining 11 parties in the election failed to get more than five percent of the vote and thus get no seats in the parliament.

Both TB/LNNK and Jaunais laiks are in the opposition the Saeima, Latvia’s domestic parliament. Three parties make up the coalition government: Zaļo un zemnieku savienība (Greens and Farmers Union), Latvijas Pirmā partija (First Party of Latvia) and Tautas partija.

Some political observers, according to Latvian media reports, view the election results as symbolic and say that the Emsis government’s days may be numbered. But the Green and Farmers Union and others say the results should not be interpreted as a referendum on domestic politics.

Nonetheless, this is just the latest in several recent challenges to the government.

The conservative coalition Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK appears to have captured at least 30 percent of the vote in the June 12 European Parliament election in Latvia, according to exit poll results reported by Baltic News Service. Official results won’t be announced until June 13, according to the Central Elections Commission.

The BNS exit poll shows 30.46 percent of the vote going to TB/LNNK (For Fatherland and Freedom/Latvian National Independence Movement). Another 19.65 percent went to the conservative Jaunais laiks (New Era), the party led by former Prime Minister Einars Repše. Coming in third was the left-wing and heavily Russian party Par cilvēka tiesībam vienotā Latvijā (For Human Rights in United Latvia, or PCTVL).

BNS also reported that the liberal Latvijas ceļš got 6.33 percent, while the conservative Tautas partija (People’s Party) got 6.22 percent.

All other parties, according to the BNS survey, got less than 5 percent, which would put them out of the running for one of the nine seats Latvia will have in the parliament.

A separate exit poll by the news agency LETA and Stradiņš University of Rīga found similar results. TB/LNNK got support from 28.5 percent of voters polled, Jaunais laiks received 21.24 percent and PCTVL earned 10.13 percent. The poll also shows Latvijas ceļš with 6.84 percent and Tautas partija with 6.75 percent.

More than 575,000 people cast ballots, or 41.27 percent of the country’s 1.39 million eligible voters, according to preliminary data from the Central Elections Commission. More than 3,000 absentee ballots were sent to Latvian citizens living or staying abroad.

(UPDATED 13 JUN 2004)