Latvia's leading party sees change of power

RIGA 's Theruling People's Party has elected Latvian Interior Minister Mareks Seglins toact as the new head of the party.

A total of 608 delegates voted for Seglins to take the reinsat the People's Party Congress on Saturday, while 25 delegates voted againsthim.

Former People's Party head Aigars Kalvitis stated earlier that he will notseek reelection to the position of the party head. The only candidateofficially 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 aninvestigator of the Prosecutor's Office and performed administrative judgeduties in court. He worked as aide of the sworn lawyer at the lawyer's officePomerancis 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 Latvianparliament and participated in the work of legal and economic committee of theparliament. He was Latvian interior minister between 1999 and 2002. Later hewas elected a lawmaker of the 8th and 9th parliament, where he headed the legalcommittee.

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

In another significant change of party leadership, the congress oustedFinance Minister Atis Slakteris from the board. New members of the People'sParty board, meanwhile, include Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins, RegionalDevelopment and Municipal Affairs Minister Edgars Zalans, the ministry'sofficial Guntis Gutmanis, as well as long-time MP Juris Dalbins.

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