Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

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 (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and politician. He was

Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia () 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 obtain the support of a p ...

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 com ...

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

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima (; literal translation, lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from office, dies or is removed from off ...

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

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

, unusual for members of green parties around the world.

Early life

Emsis graduated from Riga First Secondary School in 1970 and graduated from the University of Latvia with a degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

in 1975. In 1986, he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, also in biology. Until 1990, he worked as a research scientist in environmental science. 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 (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 the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. He is currently one of the three chairpersons of the Latvian Green Party, which forms a part of Union of Greens and Farmers. 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 28 July 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 parli ...

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 1995 to 1997, and again from 1999 to 2000. Early life Šķēle graduated from the Latvian Agri ...

'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. In 1996, Emsis was awarded the Three Star Order (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' non-staff advisor on environmental protection issues. In 2000, LZP congress nominated Emsis as the party's candidate for

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

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 (, 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 Party (EPP), and ...

leader Einars Repše's government, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga 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 ...

consisting of The Greens and Farmers union,

Latvia's First Party The Latvia's First Party () 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 May 2002, led by Ēriks J ...

and Latvian People's Party. For most of time, the government was also supported by the leftist National Harmony Party. 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 environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

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

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, 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 p ...

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 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

, defeating Sandra Kalniete of the

by 74 votes to 22. In September 2007, he resigned after a criminal investigation was opened amid allegations of corruption regarding a briefcase containing $10,000 which he lost in the Cabinet of Ministers building; on 26 October, he confessed to giving false testimony in the investigation and was issued a fine.

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