Solvita Āboltiņa ( Mellupe; born 19 February 1963) is a Latvian politician who was

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima ( lv, Saeimas priekšsēdētājs; literal translation, lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from offi ...

from 2010 until 2014.

Early life

She graduated from Riga Secondary School No. 5, a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

immersion school in 1981, and from the Faculty of Law at the

Latvian State University University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, sevent ...

in 1986.

Political career

She is the leader 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 ...

, Latvia's largest centre-right party and partner in the current

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. Despite being the leader of the largest governing party, she has never been the

Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia ( lv, ministru prezidents) is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obta ...

. She has been a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

of the

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 ...

since November 7, 2006. In November 2014 after a

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

she was replaced as the speaker and appointed chairwoman of the National Security Committee of the Saeima. She caused controversy after being 'struck off' the Unity list of candidates by electors at the 2014 election. Such an outcome is possible for any candidate under Latvia's method of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. As a result, she was not returned as a member of the Saeima and elected Unity member

Jānis Junkurs Jānis is a Latvian masculine given name. The first written use of the name Jānis dates back to 1290. It may refer to: *Jānis Ādamsons (born 1956), Latvian politician *Jānis Akuraters (1876–1937), Latvian poet, writer, playwright and polit ...

forfeited his mandate to allow the party President to continue to sit in parliament.

Honours

Foreign Honours

* : Recipient First Class of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of ...

(05.06.2012, seri
1003
- decision n° 99)

References

External links

Speaker Solvita Āboltiņa
, - 1963 births Living people Politicians from Riga New Era Party politicians New Unity politicians 21st-century Latvian women politicians Ministers of Justice of Latvia Speakers of the Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 9th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima Deputies of the 11th Saeima Women deputies of the Saeima 21st-century Latvian politicians Women government ministers of Latvia Female justice ministers University of Latvia alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class {{Latvia-politician-stub