26 ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT established by the Latvian judicial and parliamentary authorities, confirming the CPL’s responsibility for the unconstitutional attempted coups between January and August 1991 (see paragraphs 20-29, 32, 37-44 and 54-55 above). The Government emphasised that the applicant had been fully aware of the scale of the events, but she had nevertheless chosen to remain a CPL activist rather than dissociate herself from that organisation’s clearly subversive activities. 85. The Government acknowledged that a national parliament was not part of the “civil service” in the same way as the police or the armed forces. However, they emphasised that Parliament was a public institution and, in enacting legislation, MPs were participating directly in the exercise of powers conferred on them by the Constitution and other laws. Consequently, the criteria identified by the Court under Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention with regard to restrictions on the political activity of civil servants were applicable by analogy to candidates for parliamentary office as well as elected representatives. The Government therefore disagreed with the Chamber’s finding that the criteria of political loyalty had no relevance to the right to stand as a candidate for election. 86. With regard to the aim pursued by the impugned restriction, the Government observed that the disqualification from standing for election applied to those persons who had been active within organisations which, following the declaration of Latvia’s independence, had openly turned against the new democratic order and had actively sought to restore the former totalitarian communist regime. It was therefore necessary to exclude those persons from exercising legislative authority. Having failed to respect democratic principles in the past, there was no guarantee that they would now comply with such principles. Relying on Ahmed and Others v. the United Kingdom (2 September 1998, § 52, Reports 1998-VI), the Government argued that the disputed disqualification was preventative in nature and did not require proof of actual dangerous or undemocratic actions on the part of those persons. The Government therefore disagreed with the Chamber’s finding on the allegedly punitive nature of the impugned restriction. 87. With reference to Rekvényi (cited above, § 41), the Government underlined that the principle of a “democracy capable of defending itself” was compatible with the Convention, especially in the context of the postcommunist societies of central and eastern Europe. 88. Furthermore, Vogt (cited above) could not be relied on in support of the applicant’s submissions. Mrs Vogt’s activities within the German Communist Party had been legal activities within a legal organisation. In contrast, in the present case the enactment on 4 May 1990 of the Declaration of Independence had created a new constitutional order for Latvia, of which that Declaration had become the basis. Accordingly, during the period from 4 May 1990 to 6 June 1993, the date on which the 1922 Constitution was