Latvia’s Government Collapses as PM Resigns Months Before Election

Latvia’s coalition government has collapsed after Prime Minister Evika Siliņa announced her resignation on Thursday, just months before the general election scheduled for October. Siliņa, a center-right leader, headed a coalition that lost its parliamentary majority when one of its partner parties withdrew support.

The resignation followed the decision by the junior coalition partner, the Progressives party, to pull out of the government and refuse to vote with it in parliament, according to Bloomberg. The party objected to Siliņa’s proposal to replace Defense Minister Andris Sprūds—a member of the Progressives—with her military adviser.

“I am resigning, but I am not giving up,” Siliņa told a press conference in the capital, Riga.

Under the resignation, Latvia will enter a caretaker government phase until a new administration is formed before the election date.