Linda Mūrniece (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Linda Mūrniece; born 28 January 1970 in

Dobele Dobele (; german: Doblen) is a town in the cultural region Zemgale in Latvia, and is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Govern ...

) is a Latvian politician and journalist. She is a member of

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 ...

, and has served as both the

Minister for the Interior 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 ...

as well as the

Minister for Defence of Latvia The Defence Minister of the Republic of Latvia is the head of the Ministry of Defence, who is charged with the political leadership of the Latvian National Armed Forces. The position was re-established in November 1991 following the declaration ...

. In 2002 Mūrniece was elected as a member of the eighth

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 ...

. She has been the Secretary of Parliament for both the Ministry for the Interior and the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. After the resignation of

Einars Repše Einars Repše (born 9 December 1961) is a Latvian physicist, financier and politician, chairman of the Association for Latvian Development. Biography Einars Repše graduated from Latvia State University (now known as University of Latvia) in ...

as the Minister for Defence, Mūrniece took the office on 5 January 2006 and served until 7 April 2006 when the

New Era Party The New Era Party ( lv, Jaunais laiks, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011. New Era was a member of the European People' ...

resigned from the government. Mūrniece was also elected as a member of the ninth Saeima in 2006. On 12 March 2009 Mūrniece became the

. After the October 2010 election Mūrniece continued her work as the Minister. In early 2011, after a burglary by four policeman in

Jēkabpils Jēkabpils (; german: Jakobstadt; pl, Jakubów) is a state city in Jēkabpils Municipality in southeastern Latvia roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils and spanning the Daugava River. Historic Jēkabpils lies on the left bank, in Selonia ...

during which another policeman was shot, Mūrniece resigned. She was married to Unity member of the Saeima Hosams Abu Meri.

References

1970 births Living people People from Dobele New Era Party politicians New Unity politicians Ministers of Defence of Latvia Ministers of the Interior of Latvia Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 9th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima Women deputies of the Saeima Female defence ministers Women government ministers of Latvia Female interior ministers University of Latvia alumni 21st-century Latvian women politicians {{Latvia-politician-stub