Talk Elections

LATVIA:

Valdis Dombrovskis

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Valdis Dombrovskis (born 5 August 1971) is the Prime Minister of Latvia.[1] He previously served as Minister for Finance of Latvia and as a Member of the European Parliament for the New Era Party.

Dombrovskis has been a Member of the Board of the New Era Party since 2002. He was Minister of Finance of Latvia from 2002 to 2004 and a Member of the Latvian Parliament during its 8th parliamentary term (2002–2004). Then he was Observer at the Council of the European Union (2003–2004).

As Member of the European Parliament, Dombrovskis was a member of three European Parliament Committees: Committee on Budgets, Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. He is also a Substitute at Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Committee on Budgetary Control and delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, and for relations with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

Dombrovskis was also one of six Members of the European Parliament participating in the European Union's observer mission in Togo for the October 2007 Togolese parliamentary election.[3]

On 26 February 2009, following the resignation of Ivars Godmanis, President Valdis Zatlers nominated Dombrovskis to succeed Godmanis as Prime Minister of Latvia.[1] It was believed that his government would consist of three of the four previously governing parties (all but Godmanis' LPP/LC), his own New Era Party and a smaller right-wing party (the Civic Union); the government was approved on 12 March 2009.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdis_Dombrovskis

Andris Bērziņš

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Andris Bērziņš (born 10 December 1944) is a Latvian businessman and politician. He is the President of Latvia, having won the presidential election held on 2 June 2011.[3]

From 1993 to 2004, Bērziņš was the President of Unibanka.[4]

Andris Bērziņš returned to politics in 2005, when he unsuccessfully ran for the office of Mayor of Riga as the leader of the Union of Greens and Farmers party list. From 2006 to 2010 he served as the president of the Latvian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and was also Latvenergo's board chairman (until 2009).

In 2010 Andris Bērziņš was elected deputy of the Saeima as a member of the Union of Greens and Farmers.[8]
2011 presidential election

On 23 May 2011 Andris Bērzinš was nominated as a presidential candidate by five Union of Greens and Farmers deputies.[9][10]

In the first round of the election (2 June 2011), Bērziņš received 50 votes for and 48 against, while Valdis Zatlers got 43 for and 55 against (99 lawmakers cast votes, but one was invalid), meaning no one was elected.[11][12] In the second round, held later on the same day, Bērziņš received 53 votes, winning the election.[13] Andris Bērziņš took office as President of Latvia on 8 July 2011.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andris_B%C4%93rzi%C5%86%C5%A1_%28Latvian_President%29

Poll closed: Dombrovskis has a 63% rating, Bērziņš has a 43% rating.