The Latvian Socialist Party (Latvian: Latvijas Socialistiska Partija) was formed in 1994 in response to the banning of the communist party after the collpase of the Soviet Union. The Latvian Socialist Party is a Marxist party.
The current president of the party is Alfreds Rubiks, former member of the Latvian Communist Party's Central Committee. He was imprisoned from 1991 to 1997 for attempting a coup-d'etat against the Latvian authorities.
The socialist party believes that Latvian citizenship should be open to all people who were citizens of Latvia in 1990. This would entail a change in the current law which only gives citizenship to ethnic Latvians and discriminates against Russians and ethnic minorities.
The socialist party has observer status with the European United Left - Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament. Latvia is due to join the EU in 2004.
