Laimdota Straujuma (born 24 February 1951) is a Latvian economist who was the

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 ...

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 ...

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 The Saeima () is the parliament of the 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 popular v ...

. 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 Valdis Dombrovskis (born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously served ...

. 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 The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is p ...

. Following the 2014 parliamentary election, in which the Unity Party came in second, the

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The president may be ...

Andris Bērziņš nominated Straujuma to lead the new government, which was approved by

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 The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

, teacher strikes and disagreement over strategy for State assistance to the debt-laden national airline

Air Baltic airBaltic, legally incorporated as AS Air Baltic Corporation, is the flag carrier of Latvia, with its head office on the grounds of Riga International Airport in Mārupe municipality near Riga. Its main hub is Riga, and it operates bases in ...

. Reallocation of funds to ensure the country moved closer to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

'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 Solvita Āboltiņa ( Mellupe; born 19 February 1963) is a Latvian politician who was Speaker of the Saeima from 2010 until 2014. Early life She graduated from Riga Secondary School No. 5, a German language immersion school in 1981, and from the ...

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.

References

External links

Cabinet profile
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Straujuma, Laimdota 1951 births Living people People from Ludza Municipality People's Party (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Prime Ministers of Latvia Ministers of Agriculture of Latvia Deputies of the 12th Saeima Women prime ministers Women government ministers of Latvia University of Latvia alumni 21st-century Latvian women politicians Women deputies of the Saeima

Resignation

See also

References

External links