Dainis Īvāns (born 25 September 1955 in

Madona Madona (; german: Modohn) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality. History The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries ...

) is a Latvian journalist and politician. He has worked as a journalist since 1979 and gained public attention in 1986 by opposing construction of another hydro-electric dam on the

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic ...

river, near the city of

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...

. Īvāns highlighted the loss of landscapes and the relocation of numerous villages and towns required in the course of the dam's construction. As a result of the media campaign led by Īvāns, the construction of the dam was cancelled. He was awarded the title of Most Popular Journalist of 1986. In 1988, he became one of founders of the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas fronte) was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and th ...

and its leader. After the Popular Front victory in the 1990 election, he became the deputy speaker of the Supreme Council, the transitional parliament of Latvia. He resigned from this position in 1992. He returned to politics in 1998, by joining the

Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ) , colours = Maroon Green , headquarters = Riga, Lāčplēša iela 60, LV-1011 , seats1_title = Saeima , seats1 = , seats2_title = European Parliament , seats2 = , website lsdsp.lv, membership_year = 2017 , membership = 633 The Latv ...

and was elected to

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

from the Social Democrats' list in 2001. He was the leader of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party from 2002 to 2005.

References

1955 births Living people People from Madona Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia 21st-century Latvian politicians University of Latvia alumni {{latvia-bio-stub