Edvards Smiltēns, a representative of the United List (AS), has been elected Speaker of Latvia’s 15th Saeima after securing the support of a majority of MPs.
A total of 79 MPs voted in favour of Smiltēns, while 15 voted against.
Smiltēns has previously served as Speaker of Parliament, having been elected to lead the 14th Saeima in 2022. After the United List moved into opposition, Daiga Mieriņa of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) took over as Speaker.
Following the collapse of Prime Minister Evika Siliņa’s (New Unity) government, a new government was formed by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List), with Smiltēns serving as Minister of Justice in his Cabinet.
Smiltēns has extensive political experience.
He served as a member of the 10th, 11th and 12th Saeima, having been elected to Parliament on the Unity party alliance’s list.
In 2011, he became Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, while in 2014 he held the position of Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science.
The politician also stood in the 13th Saeima elections on the Latvian Association of Regions list, but the political party failed to cross the electoral threshold required to enter Parliament.
In 2020, Smiltēns ran in the extraordinary Riga City Council elections on the National Alliance (NA) list.
Following the elections, he became Deputy Chairman of Riga City Council, a position he held for several years.
As previously reported, the United List secured 41 seats in the 15th Saeima elections, Latvia First (LPV) won 17, the Sovereign Power/Young Latvians Alliance (SV/AJ) obtained 15, the National Alliance (NA) secured ten, the Progressives won ten, and New Unity (JV) received seven seats.