Kariņš cabinet

The Kariņš cabinet (Latvian: Kariņa ministru kabinets) is the 40th and current government of Latvia, sworn in on 23 January 2019 after Krišjānis Kariņš was proposed as Prime Minister by President Egils Levits and elected by the Saeima.[1][2][3][4][5]

First Kariņš cabinet

40th Cabinet of Republic of Latvia
2019–present
Date formed23 January 2019
People and organisations
Head of stateEgils Levits
Head of governmentKrišjānis Kariņš
Member partyNew Conservative Party
Development/For!
National Alliance
For a Humane Latvia
Unity
Opposition partySocial Democratic Party "Harmony"
Union of Greens and Farmers
Opposition leaderJānis Urbanovičs
Edgars Tavars
Aldis Gobzems
History
Election(s)2018 Latvian parliamentary election
Legislature term(s)Members of Saeima
PredecessorKučinskis cabinet

The government is supported by a coalition of the New Conservative Party, the Development/For!,the National Alliance, the For a Humane Latvia, and the Unity as was predecessor of Opposition government from Union of Green and Farmers Māris Kučinskis.

Composition

The cabinet consists of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and thirteen Ministers.

The composition of the Kariņš cabinet is as follows:[1][2]

Nr. Office Image Incumbent Party In Office
Prime Minister of Latvia



Prime Minister of Latvia
Krišjānis Kariņš New Unity 23 January 2019 - present
1.

Minister for Justice of Latvia
Vice Prime Minister
Jānis Bordāns New Conservative Party 23 January 2019 – present
2. Minister for Defence
Vice Prime Minister
Artis Pabriks Development/For! 23 January 2019 – present
Minister for Economics
Ralfs Nemiro KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 16 March 2020
3.
Jānis Vitenbergs KPV LV 2 April 2020 – present
4. Minister for Finance
Jānis Reirs New Unity 23 January 2019 – present
5. Minister for Foreign Affairs
Edgars Rinkēvičs New Unity 25 October 2011 – present
6. Minister for the Interior
Sandis Ģirģens KPV LV 23 January 2019 – present
7. Minister for Education and Science
Ilga Šuplinska New Conservative Party 23 January 2019 – present
Minister for Culture
Dace Melbārde National Alliance 31 October 2013 – 4 July 2019
8.
Nauris Puntulis National Alliance 8 July 2019 – present
9. Minister for Welfare
Ramona Petraviča KPV LV 23 January 2019 – present
Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Juris Pūce Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 12 November 2020
10.
Artūrs Toms Plešs Development/For! 17 December 2020 – present
11. Minister for Transport
Tālis Linkaits New Conservative Party 23 January 2019 – present
Minister for Health
Ilze Viņķele Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 7 January 2021
12.
Daniels Pavļuts Development/For! 8 January 2021 - present
13. Minister for Agriculture
Kaspars Gerhards National Alliance 23 January 2019 – present
Latvia
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Latvia
Constitution
Government
Saeima
Elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

History

Parking space scandal

In November 2020, Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce was involved in scandal, that is infamously called "Parking space scandal", that lead to his resignation from the post of Minister.[6]

The unusual scandal emerged after Riga City Councilor Māris Mičerevskis, a former party colleague of Pūce's accused him of using a parking spot he was no longer entitled to during an interview on LTV's 'One on One' show.

The next day, Pūce denied trying to get a free municipal parking pass in Riga, claiming that correspondence with Mičerevskis on the subject was just a joke.

However Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš failed to see the sunny side and said he expected the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) to get involved this case. Māris Mičerevskis left coalition in Council of Riga claiming it to be coruptive.

On 12th of November 2020 Juris Pūce resigned, and after fierce talks between Development/For! Artūrs Toms Plešs was elected as Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development. He was the first minister born after independence restoration in 1991.

Health Ministers scandal

Journalists and members of the public were left stunned as they coped with two simultaneous press briefings on 5th of January 2021 following rumors in the morning that Viņķele would be dismissed over dissatisfaction with her vaccination plan.[7]

In one briefing, Ilze Viņķele outlined the Health Ministry's vaccination plans, while at exactly the same time Prime Minister Kariņš was announcing that he had lost confidence in his minister, due to the delay in presenting the vaccination plan she was presenting. He admitted not having read the plan himself, even as it was being presented in the parallel press conference. However, getting rid of Viņķele, whose own press conference seemed an attempt to show that a plan was indeed ready and had the backing of health professionals,

Viņķele herself signalled she would comply with the request to resign, while claiming that the vaccination plan that had been prepared was even more detailed than those adopted by Estonia and Germany.

She was dismissed on 7 January 2021. Although Vice-Prime Minister refused to take on Minister's position it was continued by Artis Pabriks for one day. On 8 January 2021 Daniels Pavļuts was chosen by Development/For! as the new Minister of Health. He was approved by Saeima by 61 votes out of 100.

Opinion polling
Opinion polling for Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš
Fieldwork date Polling firm/Commissioner Sample Size Positive Negative No opinion Total
May 2020 Latvijas Fakti – 57 29 14 +28
published on May 12th 2020 SKDS/LTV – 51,8 31,1 17,1 +20,7
April 2020 Latvijas Fakti – 54 28 18 +26
April 2020 SKDS/LA – 46,2 30,6 23,2 +15,6
7–26 April 2020 Factum 708 51 17 32 +34
March 2020 Latvijas Fakti – 48 32 20 +16
February 2020 Latvijas Fakti – 40 37 23 +3
January 2020 Latvijas Fakti – 38 38 24 0
December 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 36 44 20 -8
30 Nov – 11 Dec 2019 SKDS/NRA 1538 – – – -6.4
November 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 41 35 24 +6
published on November 6th 2019 Kantar TNS – – – – 4,3/10
October 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 41 37 22 +4
September 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 40 29 31 +11
August 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 43 29 28 +14
July 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 46 31 23 +15
June 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 46 28 25 +18
May 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 41 35 24 +6
April 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 40 35 25 +5
March 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 44 30 26 +14
February 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 39 25 36 +14
February 2019 SKDS/NRA – 38,0 25,8 36,2 +12,2
January 2019 Latvijas Fakti – 38 31 31 +7

References
  1. "Latvia gets a new government led by Krišjānis Kariņš". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. "Latvia's New Prime Minister Announces His Cabinet". Consuladoletonialisboa.com. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. "Politicians discuss the pros and cons of Kariņš's government". Baltic News Network. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  4. "Latvian coalition parties sign Kariņš's government declaration". Baltic News Network. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  5. "Latvia's Karins confirmed as PM, ending lengthy political deadlock". Reuters. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. "Minister Pūce quits over parking space scandal". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  7. "Health Minister to be dismissed over vaccine plan differences". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
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