President Zatlers asks Dombrovskis to form government

UNCLAS RIGA 000104 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL LG SUBJECT: President Zatlers asks Dombrovskis to form government ¶1. President Zatlers has asked current MEP and former finance minister Valdis Dombrovskis of the New Era party to try and form a new government to replace the one led by Ivars Godmanis. Dombrovskis does not have a time limit on when he needs to present his program and ministerial slate to parliament for approval, but he has said that he wants to move quickly. Dombrovskis has said that he wants to try to work with New Era, People's Party, Greens and Farmers, Civic Union, Fatherland and Freedom and the three independent members to form a new coalition. If he succeeds in getting all these parties, he could have as many as 67 votes in parliament. If Dombrovskis were unable to form a government, an unlikely situation in our view, the President could tap another individual to try. ¶2. The main topics of negotiation in coalition formation are expected to be economic issues and budget cuts needed by March 31, selection of a new anti-corruption chief, and the size of the cabinet and allocation of ministerial portfolios within it. The foreign policy orientation of the government is unlikely to change from what Latvia has been pursuing for many years and responsible NATO membership and strong ties with the US are likely to feature prominently. ¶3. Bio notes: Valdis Dombrovskis was born August 5, 1971. His early career was in science and he holds advanced degrees in physics and studied in a PhD program in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland. In 1988, he switched to economics and joined the Bank of Latvia as a macroeconomic analyst. At the Bank, Dombrovskis progressed rapidly, first to Senior Economist in 1999, and then Chief Economist in 2001. Dombrovskis was a founding member of the New Era Party when then Bank of Latvia head Einars Repse established the party in 2002. Dombrovskis was the head of the working group that drafted New Era's Budget and Tax program for the 2002 election and served as Finance Minister in Repse's government from November 2002 to March 2004. In 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament. In 2007, he earned a Master's degree in Economics from Riga's Technical University. Dombrovskis is fluent in Latvian, English, German, and Russian, and has a basic understanding of Spanish. He is married. Rogers