RIGA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Latvian election authority on Tuesday called a snap municipal election in the capital city Riga, setting April 25 as the date for the polls.
A new city council has to be elected in Riga after the long-time coalition of the left-wing Harmony party and Honor to Serve Riga (GKR), which had been ruling in the Latvian capital city for about a decade, disintegrated last summer, leaving the local authority seriously incapacitated. The Latvian parliament passed a bill to dissolve the current city council as of Monday, Feb. 24.
The local authority's inability to ensure proper waste management in Riga served as the formal reason for the city council's sacking. Harmony, however, has vowed to contest the city council's dissolution in the country's constitutional court.
According to the bill on the city council's dissolution, a snap election has to be called on the first Saturday after two months following the bill's enactment.
With political parties and electoral blocs' campaigns already underway, the registration of candidates for the Riga election will take place from March 20 to 26, the election authority informed.
