Editorial Board

Latvia Strikes Blow to Corruption by Voting Out Oligarchs: View

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Sometimes small countries can set an example for their larger neighbors. We hope that Russians take note of Latvia’s Sept. 17 election in which oligarchs lost control of the political system.

The election in the nation of 2.2 million people has broken the stranglehold that a small number of oligarchs have had on Latvian politics. Parties controlled by corrupt businessmen and politicians won only 13 of the 100 seats in the Latvian parliament, compared with 30 in 2010 and 51 in 2006.