Laimdota Straujuma

Laimdota Straujuma
Prime Minister of Latvia
In office 22 January 2014 – 11 February 2016
President	Andris Bērziņš Raimonds Vējonis
Preceded by	Valdis Dombrovskis
Succeeded by	Māris Kučinskis
Minister of Agriculture
In office 25 October 2011 – 22 January 2014
Prime Minister	Valdis Dombrovskis
Preceded by	Jānis Dūklavs
Succeeded by	Jānis Dūklavs
Personal details
Born	(1951-02-24) 24 February 1951 Mežvidi, Soviet Union (now Latvia)
Political party	People's Party (1998–2011) Unity (2011–present)
Alma mater	University of Latvia Latvian Academy of Sciences
Awards

Laimdota Straujuma (born 24 February 1951) is a Latvian economist who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as Prime Minister, she served as Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was the first woman to serve as the head of government of the country. After her resignation on 7 December 2015 she announced her intention to resume a seat in the Saeima.

Between October 2000 and 2006 Straujuma served as the Secretary of State of the Ministry for Agriculture. Between 2007 and 2010 she was the Secretary of State of the Ministry for Regional Development and Local Government. She was appointed as Minister of Agriculture on 25 October 2011.

On 5 January 2014 the Unity Party nominated Straujuma as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister following the resignation of Valdis Dombrovskis. The nomination was supported by Unity's coalition partners, the Reform Party and the National Alliance as well as the opposition Union of Greens and Farmers.

Following the 2014 Parliamentary Election, in which the Unity Party came in second, the President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš nominated Straujuma to lead the new government, which was approved by Saeima on 5 November 2014. Straujuma resigned on 7 December 2015.

Resignation

On 7 December 2015, Straujuma resigned after a period of increasing disputes within the ruling coalition. As the country’s first female prime minister, her term lasted nearly two years and her tenure focused on strengthening national defence in the wake of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Media reports claimed Straujuma struggled to maintain cohesion within the coalition in the months preceding her resignation over the overwhelming issues of the European migrant crisis, teacher strikes and disagreement over strategy for State assistance to the debt-laden national airline Air Baltic. Reallocation of funds to ensure the country moved closer to NATO's 2% GDP defence spending requirement in light of the security situation helped make the 2016 budget controversial. The chairwoman of the Unity Party Solvita Āboltiņa criticised Straujuma’s alleged lack of authority. Straujuma upon her resignation stated that there was a need in the government for “new ideas, a new contribution and a new energy”. She personally recommended incumbent Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis as a successor. He later declined the role in an interview with Radio Latvia.

See also

• First Straujuma cabinet
• Second Straujuma cabinet

External links

• Cabinet profile

Political offices
Preceded by Jānis Dūklavs	Minister of Agriculture 2011–2014	Succeeded by Jānis Dūklavs
Preceded by Valdis Dombrovskis	Prime Minister of Latvia 2014–2016	Succeeded by Māris Kučinskis