Ilze Viņķele (born Ilze Vidiņa on 27 November 1971 in

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēzekn ...

) is a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n politician, and the former Minister for Welfare and

Minister for Health of Latvia Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

. Currently, she is a member of the political party

Movement For! Movement For! ( lv, Kustība Par!) is a liberal political party in Latvia.

, a part of the

Development/For! Development/For! ( Latvian: ''Attīstībai/Par!,'' AP!) is a liberal political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2018 and it is made up of Movement For!, For Latvia's Development and Izaugsme. The coalition itself has embraced a centrist pos ...

alliance.

Political activity

On November 7, 2006, Ilze Viņķele became the Secretary of Parliament of the Special Assignments Ministry for European Union Funds of Latvia. In 2010 she was elected as a member of the 10th

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the po ...

, however, she became the Secretary of Parliament of the Ministry for Finance of Latvia. Viņķele was appointed Minister for Welfare of Latvia on October 25, 2011. On September, 2012, 54

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s sent a joint letter demanding the resignation of Viņķele over two

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

booklets "The Day when Ruth was Richard" and "The Day when Karl was Caroline" whose publishing and distribution the ministry supported. On July 17, 2017, Viņķele and 4 other MPs (

Ints Dālderis Ints Dālderis (born 10 February 1971, Jūrmala, Latvian SSR) is a Latvian clarinetist and politician of initially the People's Party, then New Era Party, then Unity and finally Movement For!. He was Minister of Culture of Latvia Minister may ...

Lolita Čigāne Lolita Čigāne is currently an international consultant with a unique experience in politics, elections, election campaign financing, law-making, electoral campaigns, anti-corruption, civil society participation and EU law and integration. She ...

Andrejs Judins Andrejs is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the name Andrew and may refer to: * Andrejs Apsītis (1888–1945), Latvian cyclist and Olympic competitor *Andrejs Auzāns (1871-1953), Latvian military general and topographer *Andr ...

and Aleksejs Loskutovs) left

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

, however she continued to work in the party's parliamentary faction. On August 26, 2017, Viņķele became one of the founders for the political party Movement For! and was elected as its board member. On August 29, 2017, Viņķele stepped down as a member of

, being selected to study at the

McCain Institute The McCain Institute for International Leadership is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank in cooperation with Arizona State University whose mission is to "advance leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom, and human dignity, in t ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

as one of the eight

beneficiaries A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the perso ...

. On January 5, 2021,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Krišjānis Kariņš Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (born 13 December 1964) is an American-Latvian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Latvia since 2019. A linguist and businessperson by profession, he previously served as Latvia's Minister of Economics ...

announced that he would be demanding the resignation of Viņķele as Health Minister due to disagreements over her proposed plan for the distribution of the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

in Latvia. On the same day, she accepted the demand, and stepped down on January 7, 2021, with party member

Daniels Pavļuts Daniels Pavļuts (born 14 May 1976 in Jūrmala, Latvia) is a Latvian politician and the current Minister for Health of Latvia since January, 2021. He was formerly the Minister for Economics of Latvia, a position he served in from 2011 until 2014 ...

being confirmed to succeed her the same day.

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs profile
1971 births Living people People from Rēzekne For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK politicians Civic Union (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Movement For! politicians Ministers of Welfare of Latvia Deputies of the 10th Saeima Deputies of the 11th Saeima Deputies of the 12th Saeima Women government ministers of Latvia Women deputies of the Saeima Riga Stradiņš University alumni 21st-century Latvian women politicians {{Latvia-politician-stub