Aigars Kalvītis
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Aigars Kalvītis (born June 27, 1966) is a Latvian politician and the current Prime Minister of Latvia. Kalvītis graduated from Latvian University of Agriculture in 1992 with a degree in economics. From 1992 to 1998, he was a manager at various agriculture-related businesses. Kalvītis was one of the founders of People's Party of Latvia in 1997 and was first elected to Saeima, the Latvian parliament, in 1998. He served as the minister of agriculture from 1999 to 2000 and the minister of economics from 2000 to 2002. Kalvītis was reelected to Saeima and became the leader of the parliamentary faction of People's Party in 2002.
On December 2, 2004, he became the Prime Minister of Latvia. Kalvītis at first led a coalition government consisting of his own People's Party, the New Era Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers and the Latvia's First Party. In April 2006, the New Era Party left the government and Kalvītis led a minority coalition government consisting of the other three parties.
As Prime Minister Kalvītis demanded that the Transport Minister (and de facto owner of the Latvia's First Party) Ainārs Šlesers resign his post after the latter became enmeshed in a vote-buying scandal involving the Jurmala City Council.
The resignation was triggered by revelations that Šlesers was aware of, if not involved in, an attempt to bribe a politician in Jurmala following the 2005 municipal election. Transcripts of phone conversations between Šlesers and a Jurmala businessman, and then of former Prime Minister Andris Šķēle and the same businessman, were broadcast on national TV on March 12, 2006.
It appears from the cryptic texts that an attempt was being made to sway the balance of power on the Jurmala City Council in favor of a Juris Hlevickis, a mayoral candidate from the Latvia's First Party.
The news shook up the political scene in Latvia and quickly became the most significant political scandal since the country joined the European Union in 2004.
His governing coalition retained power in the October 7, 2006 parliamentary election, winning a slight majority of seats and becoming the first government since Latvian independence in 1991 to be re-elected. [1] It now consists of the People’s Party, Union of Greens and Farmers, the Latvia First/Latvian Way Party, and the Fatherland and Freedom Party. The Fatherland and Freedom Party was added after the 2006 elections, and strengthens the coalitions majority to 59 of the 100 seats. Meanwhile, the People’s Party became the largest party in Parliament.
[edit] References
- KALVĪTIS, Aigars International Who's Who, accessed September 4, 2006.
| Preceded by Indulis Emsis |
Prime Minister of Latvia December 2, 2004 — |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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| Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis Minister of Defence Atis Slakteris | Minister of Foreign Affairs Artis Pabriks | Minister for Children and Family Affairs Ainars Baštiks | Minister of Economics Jurijs Strods | Minister of Finance Oskars Spurdziņš | Minister of the Interior Ivars Godmanis | Minister of Education and Science Baiba Rivža | Minister of Culture Helēna Demakova | Minister of Welfare Dagnija Staķe | Minister for Regional Development and Local Governments Aigars Štokenbergs | Minister of Transport Ainārs Šlesers | Minister of Justice Gaidis Bērziņš | Minister of Health Vinets Veldre | Minister of the Environment Raimonds Vējonis | Minister of Agriculture Mārtiņš Roze |
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| 1918-1940 | |
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| Ulmanis · Meierovics · Pauļuks · Meierovics · Zāmuels · Celmiņš · Ulmanis · Alberings · Skujenieks · Juraševskis · Celmiņš · Ulmanis · Skujenieks · Bļodnieks · Ulmanis | |
| 1940-1990 | |
| Lācis · Peive · V. Rubenis · J. Rubenis · Bresis | |
| 1990-present | |
| Godmanis · Birkavs · Gailis · Šķēle · Krasts · Krištopans · Šķēle · Bērziņš · Repše · Emsis · Kalvītis | |
