Jewish Parties Lose Two Seats in Latvian Parliamentary Elections: Three Deputies in New Seym Against

The Jewish Parties have lost two seats in the Latvian Parliamentary elections, according to the complete figures which became known only to-day, and instead of having five Deputies as in the last Parliament, there will now be only three Jewish Deputies. Professor Laserson, who represented the Zionist Socialist Party, and Dr. Maizel, who represented the Jewish Socialist Party Bund, both Deputies for many years, have this time been defeated.

There are in the new Parliament two Agudists, and one Mizrachist, Rabbi Dr. Nurok. Professor Laserson was only 50 votes short of the number required to send him to Parliament, and the second Mizrachi candidate was only 25 votes short.

The results of the elections are not at all satisfactory, the Yiddish daily “Frimorgen” here comments, but there is one very satisfactory feature about them, it adds, and that is the defeat of the Fascist antisemitic party, which has failed to obtain any representation. Their entire election campaign was directed against the Jews, who were held up as the cause of all the troubles and difficulties in the country. Their leader, M. Berg, said that he was going to save Latvia from the Jewish scourge, but the Latvian people apparently do not want him to save them, and we shall now be spared M. Berg’s antisemitic harangues from the tribune of the Seym.

In the last election, which took place in October 1928, the five Jewish Deputies of the previous Parliament were all re-elected. The Bundist representative, Dr. Maizel, was not counted altogether a Jewish Party Deputy, because he had identified himself completely as a member of the Social Democratic Party.