Kariņš 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 Egils Levits and elected by the Saeima.[1][2][3][4][5]

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 For a Humane Latvia Unity
Opposition party	Social Democratic Party "Harmony" Union of Greens and Farmers
Opposition leader	Jānis Urbanovičs Edgars Tavars Aldis Gobzems
History
Election(s)	2018 Latvian parliamentary election
Legislature term(s)	Members of Saeima
Predecessor	Kučinskis cabinet

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

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.[6]

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 to be coruptive.

On 12th of 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 5th of 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 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.

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

1. "Latvia gets a new government led by Krišjānis Kariņš". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
2. "Latvia's New Prime Minister Announces His Cabinet". Consuladoletonialisboa.com. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
3. "Politicians discuss the pros and cons of Kariņš's government". Baltic News Network. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
4. "Latvian coalition parties sign Kariņš's government declaration". Baltic News Network. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
5. "Latvia's Karins confirmed as PM, ending lengthy political deadlock". Reuters. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
6. "Minister Pūce quits over parking space scandal". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
7. "Health Minister to be dismissed over vaccine plan differences". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2021-01-06.