Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development, Inga Bērziņa (New Unity), has resigned from her position, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) announced on Wednesday.
Bērziņa informed Siliņa of her decision on Wednesday, and the Prime Minister has accepted her resignation.
On the same day, Chair of the Central Election Commission Kristīne Saulīte also stepped down.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Bērziņa was the first to take active steps in connection with the election irregularities and suspended the head of the State Digital Development Agency (VDAA). According to Siliņa, Bērziņa also immediately began to clarify all the technical issues that had arisen during the election process.
Siliņa’s main priority now is to ensure that everything is in perfect order for the next elections, which will be the Saeima elections in autumn 2026, and that such a situation does not repeat itself.
The Prime Minister emphasised that Bērziņa is an experienced politician and chose to take this step given that she was responsible for the technical side of the elections, including the VDAA. However, Siliņa also called for Bērziņa’s official comment to be awaited.
Siliņa once again expressed her gratitude to everyone who participated in the elections and reiterated that the actions of the Central Election Commission (CEC) during the elections were inappropriate, and therefore she also appreciates the statement of CEC Chair Kristīne Saulīte regarding her resignation. Siliņa hopes that others involved will also assess their responsibility.
After leaving her ministerial post, Bērziņa will have the opportunity to become a member of the Saeima, as she was elected to the 14th Saeima in the 2014 elections.
If Bērziņa makes this decision, Ingrīda Circene (New Unity) will lose her seat in parliament.
As reported, the vote counting process during the 2025 municipal elections on Saturday and into Sunday night encountered technical problems. Similar issues with polling station operations due to technical failures were also observed earlier in the week during the early voting period.
Currently, no official internal investigation has been launched in connection with the ballot counting failures, as all necessary and available information must first be collected, said State Chancellery Director Raivis Kronbergs on Monday after an inter-institutional task force meeting.
He stated that even as recently as last week, “there was confidence” that everything would work correctly, as there were no indications that anything might go wrong. “If we hadn’t been confident about that, we certainly would have made decisions earlier,” he added, again stressing that there had been no signs that “the system might fail.”