All About Latvia

In October Latvia’s parliament, or Saeima, expressed its vote of non-confidence to the government when it voted down the proposed budget for the next year. The minority government, led by Indulis Emsis for a surprisingly long time, had to step down.

Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga handpicked a representative of Tautas partija (People’s party) to form a new coalition government. It’s a motherload of a task for Aigars Kalvitis. The president argued that other right-wing parties already had their chance to form the government. The chance they blew. After the 2002 parliamentary elections, Einars Repse, a leader of Jaunajs Laiks (the New Era) party, became the prime minister. But eventually, after the internal squabbles and a strong dislike of Repse’s leadership style by other members of the coalition government, the government fell apart.

This is when Indulis Emsis was picked to form the minority government, largely because outsted Repse’s party refused to participate in the forming of the government. Emsis is a member of Zalo un Ziemnieku Savieniba (The Green and Farmers Union).

The Emsis government relied on the support of the pro-Russian PCTVL union (known as the “Bees”) and Janis Jurkans’s Tautas Saskanjas Partija (People’s Harmony Party).

Now it’s Tautas partija’s turn to form the government, led by Aigars Kalvitis. According to the pre-election information, Kalvitis is 38 years old, married. He worked as a minister of economy. He is a graduate of Riga secondary school number 41, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economic science from Latvian Farming University. He is a member of the Latvian Hockey Federation board and now resides in Talsu district in Western Latvia.

It must be said that some of the public’s resentment toward politicians stems from the perception of their wealth and unwillingness to be in service to the public, rather they’re in service for themselves. According to “Baltic News Service”:http://velesanas.bns.lv/cv.php?id=455″, Kalvitis is not a poor person. As of 2002, his bank accounts have more than 22,000 lats (40,000 USD), some 3,000 SEK and nearly 11,000 USD. And whether or not his government lasts until next parliamentary elections in 2006, he will receive a hefty compensation from the state.

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