ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT 15 56. The relevant parts of the Supreme Council’s decision of 10 September 1991 on the dissolution of the above-mentioned organisations read as follows: “... In May 1990 the Communist Party of Latvia, the Internationalist Front of Workers of the Latvian SSR, the United Council of Labour Collectives and the Republican Council of War and Labour Veterans set up the Committee for the Defence of the Constitution of the USSR and the Latvian SSR and the Rights of Citizens, which was renamed the Latvian Public Rescue Committee on 25 November 1990 ... On 15 January 1991 the Latvian Public Rescue Committee declared that it was seizing power and dissolving the Supreme Council and the Government of the Republic of Latvia. In August 1991 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia [and the other above-mentioned organisations] supported the coup ... Having regard to the preceding, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia decrees: 1. The Communist Party of Latvia [and the other above-mentioned organisations], together with the coalition of these organisations, the Latvian Public Rescue Committee, are hereby dissolved on the ground that they have acted against the Constitution ... 2. Former members of the Communist Party of Latvia [and of the other abovementioned organisations] are informed that they are entitled to associate within parties and other associations whose objectives and practical activities are not aimed at the violent transformation or overthrow of the existing constitutional order, and which are not otherwise contrary to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Latvia ...” C. The electoral legislation 1. Substantive provisions 57. The relevant provisions of the Constitution (Satversme) of the Republic of Latvia, adopted in 1922 and amended by the Law of 15 October 1998, are worded as follows: Article 9 “All citizens of Latvia who enjoy full civic rights and who have reached the age of 21 on the day of the elections may be elected to Parliament.” Article 64 “Legislative power lies with Parliament and with the people, in the conditions and to the extent provided for by this Constitution.”