RIGA - Latvian nationalist For Fatherland and Freedom party will nominate Einars Cilinskis as the country's new economics minister to replace Jurijs Strods, faction leader Maris Grinblats told reporters Sep. 18.
The party's board has approved Cilinskis as the party's new candidate with final backing expected to be given at a meeting on Sep. 21.
Grinblats said Cilinskis was a long-time party member and "experienced enough in government issues," so was an appropriate candidate to replace Strods who quit earlier this week citing family reasons.
Party chairman Roberts Zile said: "considering the extensive political and professional experience of Einars Cilinskis in different state and municipality positions, there is no reason to doubt his ability to take over as Latvian economics minister," and expressed his hope that Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis will support Cilinskis as the economics minister and ruling coalition partner.
Zile thanked Strods for his work and pointed out that he understood reasons behind his resignation, "considering the situation in his family."
Cilinskis was born in 1963. He studied at the Department of Chemistry of Riga Polytechnic Institute and the Economics Department of Riga Technical University, where he received a masters' degree.
He worked at the Institute of Organic Synthesis, was a deputy of the Supreme Council and in 1992 was elected to Riga City Council, where he acted as a member of legal and environment committees.
Cilinskis has run in parliamentary elections for several times, but has never won a seat.
In 2000, Cilinskis was awarded the Order of Three Stars, Latvia"s highest state decoration.
