Kariņš cabinet

First Kariņš cabinet
40th Cabinet of Republic of Latvia
2019–present
Date formed	23 January 2019
People and organisations
Head of state	Egils Levits
Head of government	Krišjānis Kariņš
Member party	New Conservative Party Development/For! National Alliance Unity Who Owns the State? (2019–2021)
Status in legislature	2019-2021 Majority Government 66 / 100 (66%) 2021-Present Minority Government 47 / 100 (47%)
Opposition party	Social Democratic Party "Harmony" Union of Greens and Farmers
Opposition leader	Jānis Urbanovičs Aldis Gobzems
History
Election(s)	2018 Latvian parliamentary election
Legislature term(s)	Members of Saeima
Predecessor	Kučinskis 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 Raimonds Vējonis and elected by the Saeima.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

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		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
3.	Minister for Economics		Ralfs Nemiro	KPV LV		23 January 2019 – 16 March 2020
			Jānis Vitenbergs	KPV LV		2 April 2020 – 21 April 2021
				National Alliance		21 April 2021 – 14 May 2021
						3 June 2021 – 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 – 3 June 2021
			Marija Golubeva	Development/For!		3 June 2021 – present
7.	Minister for Education and Science		Ilga Šuplinska	New Conservative Party		23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021
			Anita Muižniece	New Conservative Party		3 June 2021 – present
8.	Minister for Culture		Dace Melbārde	National Alliance		31 October 2013 – 4 July 2019
			Nauris Puntulis	National Alliance		8 July 2019 – present
9.			Ramona Petraviča	KPV LV		23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021
			Gatis Eglītis	New Conservative Party		3 June 2021 – present
10.			Juris Pūce	Development/For!		23 January 2019 – 12 November 2020
			Artūrs Toms Plešs	Development/For!		17 December 2020 – present
11.	Minister for Transport		Tālis Linkaits	New Conservative Party		23 January 2019 – present
12.			Ilze Viņķele	Development/For!		23 January 2019 – 7 January 2021
			Daniels Pavļuts	Development/For!		8 January 2021 – present
13.			Kaspars Gerhards	National Alliance		23 January 2019 – present

Politics of Latvia
Constitution President Egils Levits
Government Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš Cabinet Kariņš
Saeima Speaker Ināra Mūrniece Dissolution
Elections Recent elections Saeima: 2014 2018 2022 Presidential: 2011 2015 2019 European: 2009 2014 2019
Political parties Harmony Unity ZZS NA LRA New Conservative Party KPV LV Development/For!
Administrative divisions Planning regions
Foreign relations Ministers of Foreign Affairs
Latvia portal Other countries
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History[]

Parking space scandal[]

In November 2020, 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 , 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. left coalition in Council of Riga claiming it was corrupt.

On 12 November 2020 Juris Pūce resigned, and after fierce talks between Development/For! Artūrs Toms Plešs was elected as . 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 5 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 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.

Reshuffle[]

On 21 June 2021, New Unity, the New Conservatives, Development/For!, and the National Alliance signed a new memorandum on the objectives of their mutual cooperation. KPV LV was excluded from newly arranged coalition. This new coalition had 48 members, what meant that government officially became minority one.^[8][9]

Opinion polling[]

Opinion polling for Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš

References[]