Latvia's failed constitution referendum

In Latvia a referendum on changing the constitution has failed owing to low voter turnout. Had it been successful it would have been possible to dissolve the parliament by referendum. The Estonian news portal Delfi argues that the result is nonetheless a blow to Latvian politicians: "In Latvia distrust of politicians is even greater than in Estonia and there has been ample justification for this. ... Had the referendum been successful, the Latvians would have been able to give their politicians the boot at will and thus take their revenge. But the new system would have become more unstable and it is questionable how successful it would be in the long term. In a European context it would certainly have been a rare experiment."

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