President of Latvia

The president of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Valsts prezidents, literally "State President") is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia.

President of the Republic of Latvia Latvijas Valsts prezidents
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Edgars Rinkēvičs since 8 July 2023
Residence	Riga Castle Riga
Appointer	Saeima
Term length	Four years renewable once, consecutively
Inaugural holder	Jānis Čakste 14 November 1922
Formation	Constitution of Latvia
Salary	~ €54,732[1]
Website	www.president.lv

List

Parties

  DC   LSDSP   LZS   LTF   LC   ZZS   LZP   None   LV

Status

  Acting President

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Term of office		Political party
1	Jānis Čakste (1859–1927)[n 1]		17 December 1918	14 November 1922	Democratic Centre
			14 November 1922	14 March 1927 (died)
—	Pauls Kalniņš (1872–1945)[n 2]		14 March 1927	8 April 1927	Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party[2]
2	Gustavs Zemgals (1871–1939)		8 April 1927	4 September 1930	Democratic Centre
3	Alberts Kviesis (1881–1944)		4 September 1930	15 May 1934	Latvian Farmers' Union
(3)			16 May 1934	10 April 1936	Independent
4	Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)[n 3]		11 April 1936	21 July 1940	Independent
Occupation of Latvia (21 July 1940 – 21 August 1991)
—	Anatolijs Gorbunovs (born 1942)[n 4]		21 August 1991	13 February 1993	Popular Front of Latvia
(—)			13 February 1993	8 July 1993	Latvian Way
5	Guntis Ulmanis (born 1939)		8 July 1993	8 July 1999	Latvian Farmers' Union
6	Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born 1937)		8 July 1999	8 July 2007	Independent
7	Valdis Zatlers (born 1955)		8 July 2007	8 July 2011	Independent
8	Andris Bērziņš (born 1944)		8 July 2011	8 July 2015	Union of Greens and Farmers[n 5]
9	Raimonds Vējonis (born 1966)		8 July 2015	8 July 2019	Latvian Green Party
10	Egils Levits (born 1955)		8 July 2019	8 July 2023	Independent
11	Edgars Rinkēvičs (born 1973)		8 July 2023	Incumbent	Unity

Living former presidents

There are seven living former Latvian Presidents:

• 
  Anatolijs Gorbunovs
  (1991–1993)
  (1942-02-10) February 10, 1942 (age 82)
• 
  Guntis Ulmanis
  (1993–1999)
  (1939-09-13) September 13, 1939 (age 85)
• 
  Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
  (1999–2007)
  (1937-12-01) December 1, 1937 (age 86)
• 
  Valdis Zatlers
  (2007–2011)
  (1955-03-22) March 22, 1955 (age 69)
• 
  Andris Bērziņš
  (2011–2015)
  (1944-12-10) December 10, 1944 (age 79)
• 
  Raimonds Vējonis
  (2015–2019)
  (1966-06-15) June 15, 1966 (age 58)
• 
  Egils Levits
  (2019–2023)
  (1955-06-30) June 30, 1955 (age 69)

Notes

1. Upon Latvian independence on 17 December 1918, Jānis Čakste was head of state as Chairman of Tautas padome (1918–20) and Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly (1920–22), until he was elected President by the first Saeima on 14 November 1922.
2. Upon Čakste's death, Speaker of the Saeima Pauls Kalniņš was acting president from 14 March 1927 to 8 April 1927.
3. Upon the expiration of Kviesis's term, Prime minister Kārlis Ulmanis illegally merged the Presidency and the Premiership, holding both offices himself. After the Soviet occupation Prime Minister Augusts Kirhenšteins was the illegitimate Acting President from 21 July to 25 August 1940
4. After the restoration of Latvian independence, speaker of the Latvian parliament Anatolijs Gorbunovs was acting president from 21 August 1991 to 8 July 1993.
5. Bērziņš is not a member of parties forming the Union of Greens and Farmers, however he ran for the Saeima from their list and was a member of their parliamentary group at the time of his election.

References

1. "Informācija par amatpersonu (darbinieku) darba samaksas apmēru sadalījumā pa amatu grupām". president.lv. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2019. (in Latvian)
2. Šiliņš, Jānis (30 May 2018). "Things to know about the split among the early Latvian leftists". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 2 June 2018.