Latvia's First Party
In the 2002 general election, it got 4.9% of the vote, just under the 5% needed to secure representation in parliament. After this loss, several politicians left Latvian Way for other parties. Latvian Way regained some ground in the European Parliament Election in June 2004 with 6.5% of vote but it still faced an uncertain future and the difficult task of regaining voters' trust. For the 2006 election, Latvian Way formed an electoral coalition with the Latvia's First Party. They won 10 seats in the election, allowing Latvian Way to join the coalition government. Party chairman Ivars Godmanis became Minister of the Interior in November 2006, and then Prime Minister in December 2007. He resigned after protests paralysed the Latvian capital, Riga, due to the global economic crisis. On 20 February 2009, Godmanis resigned as Prime Minister along with the rest of his government amid concerns about handling the economic crisis.