The first Krišjānis Kariņš' cabinet (Latvian: Kariņa 1. ministru kabinets) was the 40th government of Latvia, sworn in on 23 January 2019 after Krišjānis Kariņš was proposed as Prime Minister by President Raimonds Vējonis and elected by the Saeima and working until 14 December 2022, when Saeima passed a motion of confidence in the Second Kariņš' cabinet.
The government was supported by a coalition of The Conservatives, the Development/For!, the National Alliance, the For a Humane Latvia, and the Unity as was predecessor of Opposition government from Union of Green and Farmers Māris Kučinskis.
In accordance with the Constitution of Latvia, the Cabinet of Ministers, after the first session of the 14th Saeima, has resigned and continued as a caretaker government until a new government was formed.
The cabinet is so far the longest-serving cabinet in the history of democratic Latvia, serving 1421 days and surpassing the previous record of 1077 days set by the Kučinskis cabinet, and the only one in democratic Latvian history to serve a full term of the Saeima.
Composition The cabinet consisted of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and thirteen Ministers.
The composition of the Kariņš cabinet was as follows:
Nr.OfficeImage IncumbentParty In Office
Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 1.Minister for Justice of LatviaVice Prime Minister Jānis Bordāns The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 2.
Minister for DefenceVice Prime Minister Artis Pabriks Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 3. Minister for Economics Ralfs Nemiro KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 16 March 2020 Jānis Vitenbergs KPV LV 2 April 2020 – 21 April 2021 National Alliance 21 April 2021 – 14 May 20213 June 2021 – 18 May 2022 Ilze Indriksone National Alliance 26 May 2022 – 14 December 20224. Minister for Finance Jānis Reirs New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 5. Minister for Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs New Unity 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 6. Minister for the Interior Sandis Ģirģens KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021 Marija GolubevaDevelopment/For!3 June 2021 – 16 May 2022Kristaps EklonsDevelopment/For!26 May 2022 – 14 December 2022 7. Minister for Education and Science Ilga Šuplinska The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021 Anita MuižnieceThe Conservatives3 June 2021 – 14 December 2022 8. Minister for Culture Dace Melbārde National Alliance 31 October 2013 – 4 July 2019 Nauris Puntulis National Alliance 8 July 2019 – 14 December 2022 9. Minister for Welfare Ramona Petraviča KPV LV 23 January 2019 – 3 June 2021 Gatis EglītisThe Conservatives3 June 2021 – 14 December 2022 10. Juris Pūce Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 12 November 2020 Artūrs Toms Plešs Development/For! 17 December 2020 – 14 December 2022 11. Minister for Transport Tālis Linkaits The Conservatives 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022 12. Minister for Health Ilze Viņķele Development/For! 23 January 2019 – 7 January 2021Daniels PavļutsDevelopment/For!8 January 2021 – 14 December 202213. Minister for Agriculture Kaspars Gerhards National Alliance 23 January 2019 – 14 December 2022
History Parking space scandal In November 2020, Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce was involved in scandal, that is infamously called the "Parking space scandal", that lead to his resignation from the post of Minister.
The unusual scandal emerged after Riga City Councilor Māris Mičerevskis, a former party colleague of Pūce's accused him of using a parking spot he was no longer entitled to during an interview on LTV's 'One on One' show.
The next day, Pūce denied trying to get a free municipal parking pass in Riga, claiming that correspondence with Mičerevskis on the subject was just a joke.
However Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš failed to see the sunny side of this and said he expected the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) to get involved this case. Māris Mičerevskis left the coalition in the Council of Riga claiming it was corrupt.
On 12 November 2020 Juris Pūce resigned, and after fierce talks between Development/For! and Kariņš, Artūrs Toms Plešs was elected as Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development. He was the first minister to be born after the full restoration of Latvian independence in 1991.
Health Ministers scandal Journalists and members of the public were left stunned as they coped with two simultaneous press briefings on 5 January 2021 following rumors in the morning that Viņķele would be dismissed over dissatisfaction with her vaccination plan.
In one briefing, Ilze Viņķele outlined the Health Ministry's vaccination plans, while at exactly the same time Prime Minister Kariņš was announcing that he had lost confidence in his minister, due to the delay in presenting the vaccination plan she was presenting. He admitted not having read the plan himself, even as it was being presented in the parallel press conference. However, getting rid of Viņķele, whose own press conference seemed an attempt to show that a plan was indeed ready and had the backing of health professionals,
Viņķele herself signalled she would comply with the request to resign, while claiming that the vaccination plan that had been prepared was even more detailed than those adopted by Estonia and Germany.
She was dismissed on 7 January 2021. Although Vice-Prime Minister refused to take on Minister's position it was continued by Artis Pabriks for one day. On 8 January 2021 Daniels Pavļuts was chosen by Development/For! as the new Minister of Health. He was approved by Saeima by 61 votes out of 100.
Reshuffle
On 21 June 2021, New Unity, the New Conservatives, Development/For!, and the National Alliance signed a new memorandum on the objectives of their mutual cooperation. KPV LV was excluded from newly arranged coalition. This new coalition had 48 members, what meant that government officially became minority one.
Opinion polling
+Fieldwork date Polling firm/CommissionerSample SizePositiveNegativeNo opinionTotalMay 2020Latvijas Fakti –572914+28published on May 12th 2020SKDS/LTV–51,831,117,1+20,7April 2020Latvijas Fakti –542818+26April 2020SKDS/LA–46,230,623,2+15,67–26 April 2020Factum708511732+34March 2020Latvijas Fakti –483220+16February 2020Latvijas Fakti –403723+3January 2020Latvijas Fakti –3838240December 2019Latvijas Fakti –364420-830 Nov – 11 Dec 2019SKDS/NRA1538–––-6.4November 2019Latvijas Fakti –413524+6published on November 6th 2019Kantar TNS––––4,3/10October 2019Latvijas Fakti –413722+4September 2019Latvijas Fakti –402931+11August 2019Latvijas Fakti –432928+14July 2019Latvijas Fakti –463123+15June 2019Latvijas Fakti –462825+18May 2019Latvijas Fakti –413524+6April 2019Latvijas Fakti –403525+5March 2019Latvijas Fakti –443026+14February 2019Latvijas Fakti –392536+14February 2019SKDS/NRA–38,025,836,2+12,2January 2019Latvijas Fakti –383131+7
References