Alma mater University of Latvia Role Latvian Politician | Name Maris Grinblats Education University of Latvia | |
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Born 5 January 1955 (age 69)
Kuldiga, Latvian SSR ( 1955-01-05 ) Political party For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK Party For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK | ||
Māris Grīnblats (born 5 January 1955 in Kuldīga, Soviet Union) is a Latvian politician for For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK).
Grīnblats was a member of the Citizens' Congress, and a leader of the 18th November Union that emerged from it. He became the founding leader of For Fatherland and Freedom (TB), a party that was created from 18 November Union, in 1993. After the 1995 parliamentary election, Grīnblats, as leader of the centre-right 'National Bloc' coalition formed around TB, was asked to become Prime Minister, but, on 23 November, he failed to get the confidence of the Saeima: falling short by one vote. Instead, he became Minister for Education and Science and a Deputy Prime Minister to Andris Šķēle.
During Grīnblats leadership of TB, it merged with Latvian National Independence Movement to form the TB/LNNK, and Grīnblats became the party's first chairman. He remained in that position until 2002, at the beginning of the 8th Saeima, when he became President of the TB/LNNK's faction in the national legislature, the Saeima, which he remained in the 9th Saeima.