Riga  - Dissatisfied Latvians flocked to polling stations on Saturday to cast votes in a referendum that may give them power that, perhaps, would be unique among the European Union members.

They would be able to call snap elections in this small Baltic country.

A deteriorating economy, rampant corruption, the highest inflation in the EU, and a seeming disregard of the centre-right ruling coalition for the will of their voters serve as a backdrop in which voters are to decide on amending the constitution to give Latvians a right to dissolve the 100-member unicameral parliament.

"I came to vote because I wanted to see some changes in Latvia," a woman named Brigita told diena. lv news portal. "I doubt the referendum will bring enough votes because it requires too many, but we have hope. We cannot live without hope."

More than 757,600 people have to vote in order for the poll to be legally binding, according to the Latvian law. It is a high bar for the country of 1.5 million voters.

Ahead of the referendum, the Speaker of the Parliament Gundars Daudze urged voters not to turn up at the polls, saying that adopting the proposed amendments would cause political instability in the country which has seen 13 governments in the last 18 years.

"Referendums would create a deep crisis in Latvia and therefore I shall not participate in the referendum and so shall ask also other people. These amendments are judicially questionable and are undemocratic," he told flagship daily Diena.

"These constitutional amendments could create a huge crisis and the situation might be created when there is neither elected parliament nor president in Latvia," he added.

All opposition parties support the referendum.

"I will vote for the amendments. Present governance in Latvia is not a true democracy but a dictatorship of a narrow circle of a political elite," Sandra Kalniete, a leader of opposition party Civic Union, told Diena.

The latest poll conducted by the "Market data" agency showed that 59 per cent of voters are planning to turn up, causing worries for leaders of the ruling coalition. According to the poll, only 26 per cent said they plan to refrain from participating.

"The August 2 referendum is about the change of generation in Latvian politics," political science professor Veiko Spolitis told dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa ahead of the vote.

Eighteen years since the Baltic nation gained its independence from the former Soviet Union, some Latvians feel they lag behind their Baltic neighbours - Estonia and Lithuania - with whom they had shared painful history of the Soviet occupation. (dpa)