Latvia, Legislation, Transport

Ainars Slesers.

By secret ballot, 39 members of the council voted in favor of Slesers, whilst 20 voted against. Such a proportion of votes means that one opposition representative also supported Slesers' candidature.

According to the information from LETA's archive, Slesers was born in 1970 in Riga.

He graduated from the Riga Industrial Polytechnic School in 1989, and studied marketing in the Christian Folk School in Norway from 1990 to 1991; Slesers enrolled for studies in the Latvian Christian Academy in 1999.

Slesers started his career by importing goods from Poland and trading currency; in 1992 he became the president of the Latvian-Norwegian joint venture Latvijas Informacijas un tirdzniecibas centrs, and remained in the position until 1996.

From 1993 to 1996 Slesers was the president of Skandi Ltd., whereas in 1994 he co-founded the company Dressmann-Baltija, and he was the director general of Varner Baltija until 1998.

From 1996 to 1998 Slesers was the board chairman at the shopping mall Universalveikals centrs; between 1996 and 1997 Slesers was the director general of Rimi Baltija; from 1996 to 1998 – director general of Varner Hakon Invest.

In 1998 Slesers was elected to the 7th Saeima from the New Party's list, and worked in the parliament as a member of two Saeima committees – the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee.

During the 7th Saeima, Slesers served as the minister of economy from November 1998 until May 1999, until then-Prime Minister Vilis Kristopans demanded his resignation.

In 2002 Slesers was elected to the 8th Saeima from Latvia's First Party. In the government lead by Einars Repse (New Era), he was the deputy prime minister until January 2004, when Repse released him from the post. Two months later the Saeima confirmed Slesers as the deputy prime minister and the acting transport minister in the government of Indulis Emsis (Union of Greens and Farmers).

From December 2004 through March 2006 Slesers served as the minister of transport in Aigars Kalvitis' (People's Party) government. Kalvitis demanded Slesers to step down because of alleged implication in the Jurmala City Mayor elections' bribery scandal.

After his mandate was renewed in the 8th Saeima, Slesers was appointed to serve as the chairman of the Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee.

In October 2006, Slesers was elected to the 9th Saeima and, one month later, appointed as transport minister in Kalvitis' new government. Slesers remained in the transport minister's office also in Ivars Godmanis' (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way) government.

Slesers is co-chairman of Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way.

As reported, yesterday the 33-years-old Nils Usakovs (Harmony Center) was elected as Riga mayor.