A/HRC/7/19/Add.3 page 7 some 16 per cent are Orthodox. A significant proportion of the population is believed to be atheist. The Muslim and Jewish communities, as well as those of other religions or beliefs, are very small. C. Political structure 13. Latvia is a parliamentary democracy whose Government is headed by the Prime Minister. The Head of State is the President, who is elected by the 100-seat Parliament (Saeima). Seats in Parliament are allocated proportionally for all party lists meeting the threshold of 5 per cent of national votes. A multiparty system is in place, and government has traditionally been coalitional. Only citizens have the right to vote in both national and municipal elections. D. International human rights instruments 14. Latvia is a State party to the core international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its first Optional Protocol, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Latvia is also party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 15. At the European level, Latvia has ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter and the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Latvia has yet to become a party to other legal instruments that are relevant for questions of racism and discrimination, including Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights on general non-discrimination (signed, but not ratified), the European Convention on Nationality (signed, but not ratified), the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Local Public Life at Local Level and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. E. Methodology 16. The Special Rapporteur carried out extensive meetings with authorities at the executive, legislative and judiciary branches to collect their views, as well as information concerning racism and xenophobia in Latvia, the adequacy of the existing legal framework and the programmes and policies adopted by the authorities to fight racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. Additionally, a series of meetings with civil society organizations, communities and associations representing minority groups, victims of discrimination and journalists was organized. 17. In order to objectively assess the situation and collect information concerning his mandate, the Special Rapporteur structured his meetings with all his interlocutors around three questions: (a) Is there racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in Latvia? (b) If this is the case, what are their main manifestations and expressions and the communities affected? (c) What are or should be Governmental policies and programmes to fight these phenomena at the political, legal and cultural levels?