Edvards Smiltēns (born 18 September 1984) is a Latvian politician. He was

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima (; 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 office, dies or is removed from off ...

from 2022 to 2023.

Early life and education

Smiltēns was born in 1984 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia. He received his early education from Riga French Lyceum. Later, he attended the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences in law.

Career

In November 2010, Smiltēns was elected as a member 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 p ...

. In 2014, he stood as a candidate for the Saeima elections, but was not elected. In December, he was confirmed as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science, a position he held until March 2016. In the summer of 2017, when the party "Unity" was going through a crisis, Smiltēns was nominated as one of the contenders for the position of the party leader, but on 19 August, he announced that he was leaving the party and its Saeima faction. In November 2022, Smiltēns was elected as the Speaker of the Saeima. Due to connection with the new government in Latvia and United List remained in opposition, in 20 September 2023, Edvards Smiltēns loses the chair of the Speaker of the Saeima and his successor is

Daiga Mieriņa Daiga Mieriņa (née Cekule; previously Jurēvica, born 3 March 1969) is a Latvian politician who has been serving as the Speaker of the Saeima since 20 September 2023. Life Born in Riga, Mieriņa studied at the Bulduri Horticultural School. S ...

. But since then he's now Secretary of the Saeima.

References

1984 births Living people Speakers of the Saeima Politicians from Riga United List (Latvia) politicians University of Latvia alumni Deputies of the 14th Saeima {{Latvia-politician-stub