Latvia's leading party sees change of power

Oct 20, 2008
TBT Staff in cooperation with BNS

RIGA 's The ruling People's Party has elected Latvian Interior Minister Mareks Seglins to act as the new head of the party.

A total of 608 delegates voted for Seglins to take the reins at the People's Party Congress on Saturday, while 25 delegates voted against him.

Former People's Party head Aigars Kalvitis stated earlier that he will not seek reelection to the position of the party head. The only candidate officially nominated for the position before the congress was Seglins.

Seglins was born in 1970 in western-Latvian town of Aizpute, where he graduated school. He graduated the Law department of the University of Latvia in 1993.

Seglins worked in Liepaja as an investigator of the Prosecutor's Office and performed administrative judge duties in court. He worked as aide of the sworn lawyer at the lawyer's office Pomerancis un Kreicis for four years and became a sworn lawyer in 1998.

The new head of the People's Party was a lawmaker of the 7th Latvian parliament and participated in the work of legal and economic committee of the parliament. He was Latvian interior minister between 1999 and 2002. Later he was elected a lawmaker of the 8th and 9th parliament, where he headed the legal committee.

Seglins was an advisor on interior affairs of the former prime minister and his party member Aigars Kalvitis for almost a year and in late 2007 was again appointed Latvian interior minister.

In another significant change of party leadership, the congress ousted Finance Minister Atis Slakteris from the board. New members of the People's Party board, meanwhile, include Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins, Regional Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Edgars Zalans, the ministry's official Guntis Gutmanis, as well as long-time MP Juris Dalbins.

Latvia's People's Party unites 1,674 members of 27 regional units and has over 5,000 supporters.

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