Voie lettonne
President Valdis Zatlers called the referendum under the power given to him by the constitution on 28 May 2011. Zatlers called the referendum in response to the Saeima's refusal to sanction a search at the home of MP Ainārs Šlesers, leader of Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way and a former cabinet minister. According to the current legal procedure, the referendum on the Saeima's dissolution had to take place no later than two months after the President's decree.