Lielā ģilde Infrastructure

The 1st Citizens' Congress was held in the Great Guild (Philharmonic) building on April 30, 1990. The Citizens' Congress of the Republic of Latvia was an organization founded in 1989 during the Awakening, which declared itself to be the elected "legal representation of the Republic of Latvia, a state proclaimed in 1918, recognized by Russia in 1920 and by the Council of the League of Nations in 1922, a former member of the League of Nations - the Republic of Latvia" in order to "restore the legitimate state power of the Republic of Latvia, the functioning of the Constitution, and to build the relations of the Republic of Latvia with the USSR on the basis of the 1920 peace treaty."

The members of this organization formed the most radical part of the supporters of independence, who grouped around the Citizens' Congress of the Republic of Latvia and believed that the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR, as an organ of the USSR occupation power, had no right to declare the restoration of Latvia's independence. The Citizens' Congress advocated the so-called internationally legal path to regaining independence, implementing a referendum of the citizens of the Republic of Latvia under the supervision of the UN or other international organizations. However, the so-called parliamentary path to regaining independence, advocated by the Latvian People's Front, prevailed. This happened, largely because such a path had been chosen by Estonia and Lithuania, and it was also supported by some delegates of the Citizens' Congress.