Cabinet Šķēle III

The Šķēle III cabinet was the eighth government of Latvia after independence in 1990. It was in office from July 16, 1999 to May 5, 2000.

After Prime Minister Vilis Krištopans announced his resignation on July 5, 1999, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga tasked the former Prime Minister and Chairman of the People's Party, Andris Šķēle, with forming a government on July 12 . The center-right coalition made up of the People's Party (TP), Latvia's Way (LC) and For Fatherland and Freedom (TB / LNNK) had 62 of the 100 seats in parliament. On July 16, the new government was elected by the Saeima with 60 votes (37 against and 3 abstentions).

In December 1999, the controversial language law was passed, which prescribed the basic use of the Latvian language on public occasions and was perceived as discriminatory by the Russian-speaking minority. Accession negotiations with the European Union began on February 15, 2000.

The dispute over the privatization of the last large state-owned companies culminated on April 6, 2000 with the dismissal of Minister of Economics Makarovs . The LC and TB then withdrew their support from Šķēle, who resigned on April 12. The Mayor of Riga Andris Bērziņš (LC) became Prime Minister of the successor government , which, in addition to the three previous coalition partners, also included the New Party (JP).

Cabinet members

Department	Surname	Political party		Term of office
Prime Minister	Andris Šķēle		TP	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Defense Minister	Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis		TB / LNNK	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Foreign minister	Indulis Bērziņš		LC	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Economics Minister	Vladimir Makarovs		TB / LNNK	July 16, 1999 - April 6, 2000
	Andris Šķēle (acting)		TP	April 6, 2000 - May 5, 2000
Finance minister	Edmunds Krastiņš		TP	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Interior minister	Mareks Segliņš		TP	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister for Education and Science	Silva Golde		TP	July 16, 1999 - December 8, 1999
Minister for Education and Science	Andris Šķēle (acting)		TP	December 8, 1999
	Vladimir's Makarovs (acting)		TB / LNNK	December 9, 1999 - December 12, 1999
	Andris Šķēle (acting)		TP	December 12, 1999 - December 16, 1999
	Māris Vītols		TP	December 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of Culture	Karina Pētersone		LC	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of Social Affairs	Roberts Jurdžs		TB / LNNK	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of transport	Anatolijs Gorbunovs		LC	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of Justice	Valdis Birkavs		LC	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of Agriculture	Aigars Kalvītis		TP	December 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of Environment and Regional Development	Vents Balodis		TB / LNNK	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of State
Minister of Special Affairs for Cooperation and the International Financial Organizations in the Ministry of Finance	Roberts Zīle		TB / LNNK	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000
Minister of State for Special Affairs for Public and Local Administration Reform	Jānis Bunkšs		LC	July 16, 1999 - May 5, 2000

Parties

	Political party
	Latvian Way (LC)
	For Fatherland and Freedom (TB / LNNK)
	People's Party (TP)

Web links

Latvijas Republikas valdības sastāvs 1999.g. 16.jūlijs - 2000.g.5.maijs. (PDF) Government of Latvia, accessed August 10, 2019 (Latvian). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Thomas Schmidt: The political system of Latvia . In: Wolfgang Ismayr (Ed.): The political systems of Eastern Europe . 3rd, updated and revised edition. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17181-4 , p. 143 .
2. ↑ Mario von Baratta (ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2000 . Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-72000-1 , Sp. 482-484 .
3. ↑ Mario von Baratta (ed.): Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2001 . Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-72001-X , Sp. 490-492 .