Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’s centrist, pro-Ukraine United List led the country’s parliamentary election after voting on Saturday, according to exit polling and early official results. With ballots counted from 82% of precincts early Sunday, Central Election Commission data gave United List 35.8% of votes.
The populist Latvia First was second with 13.3% in the early count, Al Jazeera reported. An LSM exit poll cited by Deutsche Welle had United List at 35.6% and Latvia First at 11.3%. Kulbergs said the exit-poll result was better than he expected and said he would not work with pro-Russian parties, including Latvia First. Nearly 800,000 people voted, with turnout reported at 51.7%. The election was Kulbergs’s first electoral test after taking power in May, according to Al Jazeera.