FIRSTWOMAN PMTO BE APPOINTED SHORTLY IN LATVIA

Latvia is poised to get its first female Prime Minister (PM) after the country's President. Andris Berzinê and the leading parliamentary parties finally agreed on a single candidate.

President of Latvia Andris Berzinê invited Mrs. Laimdota Straujuma to form the new government and she will be the first woman Prime Minister in Latvia.

On January 5, 2014 the Unity Party nominated Mrs. Laimdota Straujuma as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister, following the resignation of Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis. Mrs. Laimdota Straujuma is a long time civil servant and is currently the Baltic State's Agricultural Minister and was not a member of any party until she joined the Unity Party over the weekend. Born on 24th February 1951 she is a Latvian politician, economist, former senior civil servant and the current Minister for Agriculture of Latvia. Between October 2000 and 2006 Mrs. Laimdota Straujuma served as the Secretary of State of the Ministry for Agriculture of Latvia. Between 2007 and 2010 she was the Secretary of State of the Ministry for Regional Development and Local Government of Latvia and was appointed Minister for Agriculture of Latvia on 25 October 2011. Previously the Latvian President Andris Berzinê had refused to back any candidates, but on Monday said he would support Mrs. Straujuma.

The current head of government Valdis Dombrovskis who was the Prime Minister, resigned in November in the wake of a supermarket roof collapse that killed 54 people and stunned the small country.

Mrs. L. Straujuma will have to assemble a coalition that will receive majority support in the 100member Parliament before she can officially assume office.