First Kariņš cabinet

The first Krišjānis Kariņš' cabinet (Latvian: Kariņa 1. ministru kabinets) was the 40th 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] and working until 14 December 2022, when Saeima passed a motion of confidence in the Second Kariņš' cabinet.[6]

First Kariņš cabinet

40th Cabinet of Republic of Latvia
2019–2022
Date formed23 January 2019
Date dissolved14 December 2022
People and organisations
Head of stateEgils Levits
Head of governmentKrišjānis Kariņš
Member partyThe Conservatives
Development/For!
National Alliance
Unity
Who Owns the State? (2019–2021)
Status in legislature2019–2021 Majority Government
66 / 100(66%)
2021–2022 Minority Government
47 / 100(47%)
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)13th Saeima
PredecessorKučinskis cabinet
SuccessorSecond Kariņš' cabinet

The government was supported by a coalition of The Conservatives, 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.

In accordance with the Constitution of Latvia, the Cabinet of Ministers, after the first session of the 14th Saeima, has resigned and continued as a caretaker government until a new government was formed.

The First Kariņš cabinet is so far the only government in democratic Latvian history to serve a full term of the Saeima.

Composition

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

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

Nr. Office Image Incumbent Party In Office

Prime Minister of Latvia

Krišjānis Kariņš New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
1.

Minister for Justice of Latvia
Vice Prime Minister

Jānis Bordāns The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
2.

Minister for Defence
Vice Prime Minister

Artis Pabriks Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
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 – 18 May 2022
Ilze Indriksone National Alliance 26 May 2022 – 14 December 2022
4. Minister for Finance
Jānis Reirs New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
5. Minister for Foreign Affairs
Edgars Rinkēvičs New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
6. Minister for the Interior
Sandis Ģirģens KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021
Marija Golubeva Development/For! 3 June 2021 – 16 May 2022
Kristaps Eklons Development/For! 26 May 2022 – 14 December 2022
7. Minister for Education and Science
Ilga Šuplinska The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021
Anita Muižniece The Conservatives 3 June 2021 – 14 December 2022
8. Minister for Culture
Dace Melbārde National Alliance 31 October 2013 – 4 July 2019
Nauris Puntulis National Alliance 8 July 2019 – 14 December 2022
9. Minister for Welfare
Ramona Petraviča KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021
Gatis Eglītis The Conservatives 3 June 2021 – 14 December 2022
10. Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Juris Pūce Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 12 November 2020
Artūrs Toms Plešs Development/For! 17 December 2020 – 14 December 2022
11. Minister for Transport
Tālis Linkaits The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
12. Minister for Health
Ilze Viņķele Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 7 January 2021
Daniels Pavļuts Development/For! 8 January 2021 – 14 December 2022
13. Minister for Agriculture
Kaspars Gerhards National Alliance 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022

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.[7]

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 was corrupt.

On 12 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 5 January 2021 following rumors in the morning that Viņķele would be dismissed over dissatisfaction with her vaccination plan.[8]

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.

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.[9][10]

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

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