The election campaign has officially started, but for many parties, it has been ongoing for almost four years 0 10

Although the official period of election campaigning began only on June 6, the residents of Latvia have long been living in an election atmosphere. Political advertising has been placed on the streets, online, on the radio, and in mailboxes for several months now.

The faces of candidates look down from the facades of buildings and billboards, parties argue with each other daily on social media, and election promises are increasingly being made long before the official start of the campaign.

This has largely reflected the peculiarities of the work of the 14th Saeima. In less than four years, Latvian politics has rarely entered a calm mode. Changes of governments, tense relations within coalitions, struggles for ratings, and the constant need to maintain voter attention have effectively turned the entire parliamentary term into a continuous election campaign.

This was particularly evident in situations where parties were simultaneously in power and criticized the work of the government of which they themselves were a part. As a result, the line between governing the state and political campaigning became increasingly blurred.

Formally, special rules provided by legislation came into effect on June 6. Now, restrictions on spending, requirements for placing campaign materials, and increased oversight from the Bureau for Prevention and Combating Corruption are in force.

However, for the ordinary voter, this boundary seems quite conditional.

What is important to know: the official start of the campaign is primarily significant for controlling expenses and ensuring compliance with campaign rules. From the perspective of public perception, active political advertising and the struggle for attention began much earlier.

In recent months, parties have actively used almost all available communication channels — outdoor advertising, party newspapers, videos, social media, and public events. Moreover, competition has increasingly been built not only on their own proposals but also on the criticism of opponents.

As the elections approach, the intensity of this struggle will only increase. The official start of the campaign rather marks a new stage in a political marathon that has long been underway than opens it from scratch.

There are a few months left until the elections to the 15th Saeima, and now the political rivalry is entering a phase where every step of the parties will be under closer scrutiny from both regulatory bodies and the voters themselves.