Riga - The rush hour trend in the Latvian capital Riga was reversed Tuesday as thousands gathered in the central Dome Square at 5:30 pm (1530 GMT) to call for the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections. The demonstration, backed by around 20 civil groups and opposition parties, was the idea of Aigars Stokenbergs and Artis Pabriks, former government ministers and founders of the a new opposition party called the Union for Different Politics.
According to the organizers' website, the demonstration is to show concern "about our nation's future, justice and democracy."
In 2007, thousands of Latvians took to the streets in pouring rain for what became known as the "umbrella revolution" which resulted in the resignation of prime minister Aigars Kalvitis.
However, nearly all of the Kalvitis government's ministers returned under the subsequent administration of Ivars Godmanis, which remains in power.
Demonstrators voiced concerns about a number of issues prior to the demonstration including levels of corruption in public life, a struggling economy, tax hikes, rising unemployment and cuts in social security payments.
In December the International Monetary Fund helped broker a 10-billion-dollar international bailout plan for Latvia. Many demonstrators said they feared the money would disappear into the back pockets of politicians and oligarchs instead of being used to revive the national economy.
Speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Latvian president Valdis Zatlers admitted that the country had missed opportunities.
"After EU accession the Latvian government relaxed, feeling that it had done a good job, and we did not realize that that this is the beginning of a process, not the end. The EU offers wide opportunities but each country has to take them itself and we have not used all the opportunities," he said.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent in Riga, protestors were calling on Zatlers to initiate a legal process that would result in the dissolution of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima.
