Valdis Zatlers , born on March 22nd, 1955, is a Latvian politician.

He is the third president of Latvia since the recovered independence of 1991 and the seventh in all. He succeeds in this function Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, on July 8th, 2007.

Biography

In 1979, Zatlers leaves graduate the Institute of medicine of the Université of Rīga.

Doctor of formation, it follows after the end of the communist dictatorship, a formation with the Université of Yale to the the United States and becomes specialist in orthopedic surgery. Until its election, it occupied the position of director of the national hospital of traumatology and orthopedy with Riga.

He is married and father of three children.

Political career

He was member of the central committee of the Popular front of Latvia between 1988 and 1989, a party created to claim the independence of Latvia, then occupied by the Soviet Union.

Election with the presidency of the Republic

Two candidates (Māris Riekstiņš and Karina Pētersone) were in competition to obtain the support of the majority government coalition of center-right to the lv [[Saeima]] at the time of the presidential election of May 31st, 2007. The coalition not managing to decide between the two, Zatlers is selected like candidate of compromise . Zatlers, which elected forever before, is regarded as beginner in policy, so much so that its political opinions are not known.

According to a survey carried out before the election, the Latvians supported the candidature of Zatlers for 28  % whereas that of the candidate of center left Aivars Endziņš was supported by 54  % of the population . The commission anti-corruption opened an investigation against Zatlers after he admitted, at the time of the short electoral campaign, to have received envelopes containing of the money given by several of its patients. Although this practice was current at the time Communist it became fraudulent in Latvia of today. .

The presidential election took place on May 31st, 2007 with the Latvian Parlement and Zatlers carries it as of the first turn by 58 votes (58 deputies of the coalition) against 39 for Endziņš. It succeeds on July 8th, 2007 popular the Vaira Vike-Freiberga.

References