Riga, June 8 (LETA) - About 40 new lawmakers have been elected to the Riga City Council, which means that two thirds of the councilors will be replaced, according to preliminary data of the Central Election Commission.

The biggest changes are related to the entry of Ainars Slesers' party Latvia First into the city council and the loss of seats of the Harmony party.

Latvia First so far was not represented in the Riga City Council, but it has now won 13 seats in the elections. On the other hand, Harmony, which currently has 11 lawmakers in its faction, has not been elected to the City Council, so all 11 Harmony lawmakers will lose their seats.

Latvia First might be represented in the council by its leader Ainars Slesers, his son Edvards Slesers and the son of Latvia First politician Vils Kristopans, Kaspars Kristopans. Also elected to the City Council are advertising specialist Eriks Stendzenieks, blogger Maija Armaneva, Vladislavs Bartasevics, son of former Rezekne mayor Aleksandrs Bartasevics, and former Harmony politicians Andrejs Klementjevs and Sergejs Dolgopolovs.

Four new lawmakers might join the council from the Progressives list, including Mairita Luse, who has been a member of the Riga City Council and is currently serving in the Saeima.

The National Alliance could bring five new lawmakers to the new City Council, such as former MP Elina Treija, social network activist Liana Langa, and Nemelo.lv author Ansis Pupols.

Lauma Paeglkalna, Parliamentary Secretary of the Justice Ministry, and Inese Voika, founder of Delna pro-transparency organization and member of the 13th Saeima, were elected to the City Council from the New Unity party, while Olafs Pulks, the current head of the New Unity faction at the Riga City Council and head of the Traffic Committee, is likely to lose his seat as a lawmaker.

The joint list of Sovereign Power and the New Latvians will bring seven new lawmakers to the City Council, including the list leaders Julija Stepanenko and Rudolfs Bremanis.

With the entry of Stability into the Riga City Council, the list leader Aleksejs Roslikovs and former boxer Mairis Briedis and others may become lawmakers.

The United List, in addition to list leaders Maris Sprindzuks and Edgars Bergholcs, will also include experienced MP Romualds Razuks and former MP and head of the emergency service Martins Sics.

As reported, Ainars Slesers' party Latvia First has won the largest number of votes in the municipal elections to the Riga City Council, but the parties Progressives and the National Alliance have also achieved very close results, preliminary election results compiled by the Central Election Commission show.

Counting data from all polling stations, the Latvia First won 18.17 percent of the votes, giving the list 13 out of 60 seats in the Riga City Council.

As many as 16.62 percent of voters supported the Progressives, giving them 11 seats, 14.2 percent voted for the National Alliance, giving it ten seats, and the New Unity, the party of current Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis, won 12.9 percent of voters' support. The New Unity will therefore win nine seats.

The joint list of Sovereign Power and the Union of New Latvians won 12.13 percent of the votes and won eight seats.

Two other political forces have entered the council - the Stability party, supported by 6.94 percent of voters, and the United List, supported by 6.29 percent of voters, which would allow them to win five and four seats respectively.

The other parties, including For Latvia's Development, Harmony, Honor to Serve Riga and the Union of Greens and Farmers, did not get into the Riga City Council.

In total, 60 deputies are to be elected to the Riga City Council.

The turnout in Riga in these elections reached 52.2 percent.