ABSTRACT
As Russian forces withdrew from the region, on 18 November 1918 representatives from all the major political parties formed a new National Council and promptly proclaimed an independent Republic of Latvia. The beginning of Latvia's post-communist era can be traced to 4 May 1990, when the republic's Supreme Soviet formally declared null and void the Soviet annexation of Latvia and announced its intention of restoring the country's independence, although it did not specify a timetable. Chaired by Laimonis Strujevi-ìs, it claimed 3,800 members in the early 1990s and focused its work primarily among rural residents, who constituted approximately one third of Latvia's total population. Although the Latvian Agrarian Unions program resembled that of the centrist-liberal Latvia's Way, its focus on agrarian protectionism precluded close cooperation with its larger competitor and former government partner. The National Movement for Latvia-Siegerist's Party was formally registered in November 1994 by four defectors or expellees from the Latvian National Independence Movement faction in the Saeima..
