Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

and politician. He was

Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia ( lv, ministru prezidents) is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obt ...

for ten months in 2004, the first

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima ( lv, Saeimas priekšsēdētājs; lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from office, dies or is removed from office befo ...

, the Latvian parliament from 2006 to 2007. Emsis' political views are described as rather

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, unusual for members of

green parties A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

around the world.

Early life

Emsis graduated from Riga First Secondary School in 1970, and graduated from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

with a degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

in 1975. In 1986, he received PhD, also in biology. Until 1990, he worked as a research scientist in

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geog ...

. From 1976 to 1987 Emsis worked as a research associate at the scientific production association "Silava", and head of its labor protection laboratory between 1987 and 1989. Emsis also worked as deputy chairman of the Soviet Latvia's State Nature Protection Committee.

Start of political career

In 1990, he became one of founders of

Latvian Green Party The Latvian Green Party ( lv, Latvijas Zaļā partija, LZP) is a green political party in Latvia. It was founded in 1990. It was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre and lean ...

(LZP) and served as Minister for the environment in the 1990s, working especially for a clean

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. He is currently one of the three chairpersons of the

, which forms a part of

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is p ...

. Emsis was included on the Green ticket for the 5th Saeima elections in 1993. Emsis was appointed special assignments minister of natural protection in Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development in the government of

Valdis Birkavs Valdis Birkavs (born July 28, 1942) is a Latvian politician. He was born in Riga. Birkavs attended the University of Latvia, where he studied philosophy, sociology, law, psychology and mathematical logic. He was first elected to the Latvian parl ...

in 1993. Emsis also held the office in the government of Māris Gailis in 1994. Emsis was elected to the 6th Saeima from the ticket of LNNK/LZP in 1995. As a member of the 6th Saeima, Emsis was elected to the parliament's Economic Policy Committee. Emsis was appointed special assignments minister of environment in the ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development when

Andris Šķēle Andris Šķēle (born 16 January 1958) is a Latvian former politician and business oligarch. He served two terms as Prime Minister of Latvia from 21 December 1995 to 7 August 1997, and from 16 July 1999 to 5 May 2000. Early life Šķēle grad ...

's government was approved in 1995. Emsis again assumed the post when Šķēle returned with a new government in 1997, and also held it in the government of

Guntars Krasts Guntars Krasts (born 16 October 1957) is a Latvian politician, former Prime Minister, and former Member of the European Parliament for the single Latvia constituency. Born in Riga, he was the Minister of Economy of Latvia from December 1995 to ...

. In 1996, Emsis was awarded the

Three Star Order Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...

(3rd category). In 1998, Emsis was appointed head of a task force to prepare a development program for Latvia's small ports, and chairman of committee for assessment of conformity of beaches and yacht ports. In 1998, Emsis joined the parliamentary group of the Labor Party, Union of Christian Democrats and LZP. He was included on the three parties' joint ticket for the 7th Saeima elections. In 1998, Emsis assumed the post of Prime Minister

Vilis Krištopans Vilis Krištopans (born 13 June 1954 in Omsk Oblast, Russian SFSR) is a Latvian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 26 November 1998 to 15 July 1999. As a prime minister he was a member of the Latvian Way political party. He ...

' non-staff advisor on environmental protection issues. In 2000, LZP congress nominated Emsis as the party's candidate for

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 ...

mayor ahead of municipal elections. Emsis was elected to the Riga City Council form LZP ticket in March 2001, he worked as deputy chairman of the city council's City Development Committee. In October 2002, Emsis was included on the ZZS ticket for the 8th Saeima elections. Emsis was elected to Saeima, and was appointed deputy chairman of the ZZS parliamentary group. Emsis was elected head of the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee, he also worked on the Public Expenditure and Audit Committee.

As prime minister

After the resignation of

New Era Party The New Era Party ( lv, Jaunais laiks, JL) was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011. New Era was a member of the European People's ...

leader Einars Repše's government, President

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born 1 December 1937) is a Latvian politician who served as the sixth President of Latvia from 1999 to 2007. She is the first woman to hold the post. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the seco ...

assigned Emsis to form a new government; the Saeima voted Emsis' government in office in March 2004. On 9 March 2004, he became the prime minister of Latvia, leading a centre-right

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in t ...

consisting of The Greens and Farmers union,

Latvia's First Party The Latvia's First Party ( lv, Latvijas Pirmā Partija) was a socially conservative, Christian-democratic right-wing political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvian Way to form Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way in 2007. It was founded on 25 M ...

and Latvian People's Party. For most of time, the government was also supported by the leftist

National Harmony Party The National Harmony Party ( Latvian: ''Tautas Saskaņas partija'', TSP; russian: Партия народного согласия) was a political party in Latvia. The party identified with social democracy. It supported further liberalisation o ...

. Emsis was the first member of a

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

to become Prime Minister of a country. On 28 October 2004, the government fell as the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular v ...

voted 39–53 against the government's budget proposal for the year 2005. He left office on 2 December 2004, when parliament confirmed

Aigars Kalvītis Aigars Kalvītis (born 27 June 1966) is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvian ...

of the People's Party as Prime Minister.

Speaker of Saeima

Emsis returned to the Saeima in December 2004. In October 2006, Emsis was elected to the 9th Saeima from the ticket of the Union of Greens and Farmers. On 7 November 2006, he was elected Speaker of Saeima, defeating

Sandra Kalniete Sandra Kalniete (born 22 December 1952) is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisherie ...

of the

by 74 votes to 22.

COVID-19

On 12 December 2021, Emsis made public statements on COVID-19 treatment very far removed from the scientific consensus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emsis, Indulis 1952 births Living people People from Limbaži Municipality Latvian Green Party politicians Prime Ministers of Latvia Ministers of the Environment of Latvia Speakers of the Saeima Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Deputies of the 6th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 9th Saeima Riga State Gymnasium No.1 alumni University of Latvia alumni