President of Latvia
| President of the Republic of Latvia | |
|---|---|
| Latvijas Valsts prezidents | |
 Presidential Standard | |
 | |
| Residence | Riga Castle Riga |
| Appointer | Saeima |
| Term length | Four years renewable once, consecutively |
| Inaugural holder | Jānis Čakste 14 November 1922 |
| Formation | Constitution of Latvia |
| Salary | ~ €54,732 annually[1] |
| Website | www |
The president of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Valsts prezidents, literally "State President") is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia.
The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. He or she may be elected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row.[2] In the event of the vacancy in the office of the president, the speaker of the Saeima assumes the duties of the president. For example, after the death of Jānis Čakste the speaker of the Saeima, Pauls Kalniņš, was acting president briefly in 1927, before a new president could be elected.
Unlike his Estonian counterpart, the Latvian president's role is not entirely ceremonial. However, he is not as powerful as the president of Lithuania. Unlike in Estonia, he shares executive power with the cabinet and prime minister. However, he is not politically responsible for carrying out his duties, and all presidential orders must be countersigned by a member of the cabinet – usually the prime minister.
The tenth and current officeholder, and sixth since the restoration of independence, is Egils Levits, who was elected on 28 May 2019 and began his first four-year term on 8 July 2019.
List
- Parties
DC LSDSP LZS LTF LC ZZS LZP None
- Status
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) |
Portrait | Term of office | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jānis Čakste (1859–1927)[n 1] |
|
17 December 1918 | 14 November 1922 | Democratic Centre |
| 14 November 1922 | 14 March 1927 | ||||
| style="background:Template:Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party/meta/color; color:white"| — | Pauls Kalniņš (1872–1945)[n 2] |
File:Pauls Kalniņš.jpg | 14 March 1927 | 8 April 1927 | Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party[3] |
| 2 | Gustavs Zemgals (1871–1939) |
|
8 April 1927 | 4 September 1930 | Democratic Centre |
| style="background:Template:Latvian Farmers' Union/meta/color; color:white"| 3 | Alberts Kviesis (1881–1944) |
|
4 September 1930 | 15 May 1934 | Latvian Farmers' Union |
| style="background:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color;"| (3) | 16 May 1934 | 10 April 1936 | Independent | ||
| style="background:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color;"| 4 | Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)[n 3] |
|
11 April 1936 | 21 July 1940 | Independent |
| Position vacant (21 July 1940 – 8 July 1993) | |||||
| style="background:Template:Popular Front of Latvia/meta/color; color:white"| — | Anatolijs Gorbunovs (born 1942)[n 4] |
|
21 August 1991 | 13 February 1993 | Popular Front of Latvia |
| style="background:Template:Latvian Way/meta/color; color:white"| (—) | 13 February 1993 | 8 July 1993 | Latvian Way | ||
| style="background:Template:Latvian Farmers' Union/meta/color; color:white"| 5 | Guntis Ulmanis (born 1939) |
|
8 July 1993 | 8 July 1999 | Latvian Farmers' Union |
| style="background:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color;"| 6 | Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born 1937) |
|
8 July 1999 | 8 July 2007 | Independent |
| style="background:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color;"| 7 | Valdis Zatlers (born 1955) |
|
8 July 2007 | 8 July 2011 | Independent |
| style="background:Template:Union of Greens and Farmers/meta/color; color:white"| 8 | Andris Bērziņš (born 1944) |
.jpg)
|
8 July 2011 | 8 July 2015 | Union of Greens and Farmers[n 5] |
| style="background:Template:Latvian Green Party/meta/color; color:white" | 9 | Raimonds Vējonis (born 1966) |
|
8 July 2015 | 8 July 2019 | Latvian Green Party |
| style="background:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color;"| 10 | Egils Levits (born 1955) |
|
8 July 2019 | Incumbent (Term ends on 8 July 2023) |
Independent |
Living former presidents
There are six living former Latvian presidents:
-
Anatolijs Gorbunovs
(1991–1993)
February 10, 1942 -
Guntis Ulmanis
(1993–1999)
September 13, 1939 -
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
(1999–2007)
December 1, 1937 -
Valdis Zatlers
(2007–2011)
March 22, 1955 -
Andris Bērziņš
(2011–2015)
December 10, 1944 -
Raimonds Vējonis
(2015–2019)
June 15, 1966
See also
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 |
|---|
- Lists of office-holders
- List of Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic ("head of state" during the Soviet era)
Notes
- ^ Upon Latvian independence on 17 December 1918, Jānis Čakste was head of state as Chairman of Tautas padome (1918–20) and Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly (1920–22), until he was elected President by the first Saeima on 14 November 1922.
- ^ Upon Čakste's death, Speaker of the Saeima Pauls Kalniņš was acting president from 14 March 1927 to 8 April 1927.
- ^ Upon the expiration of Kviesis's term, Prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis illegally merged the Presidency and the Premiership, holding both offices himself. After the Soviet occupation Prime Minister Augusts Kirhenšteins was the illegitimate Acting President from 21 July to 25 August 1940
- ^ After the restoration of Latvian independence, speaker of the Latvian parliament Anatolijs Gorbunovs was acting president from 21 August 1991 to 8 July 1993.
- ^ Bērziņš is not a member of parties forming the Union of Greens and Farmers, however he ran for the Saeima from their list and was a member of their parliamentary group at the time of his election.
References
- ^ "Informācija par amatpersonu (darbinieku) darba samaksas apmēru sadalījumā pa amatu grupām". president.lv. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017. (in Latvian)
- ^ "President of Latvia by Baltic Legal; Part of Constitution - The president". Baltic Legal. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
- ^ Šiliņš, Jānis (30 May 2018). "Things to know about the split among the early Latvian leftists". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
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