Oct 2 (Reuters) - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, on course to return to power at the head of a majority coalition in Saturday's election, had to weather a severe recession, tough talks with lenders and domestic political instability.
Voters seem to have backed Dombrovskis as an honest leader cleaning up the mess left by previous governments, which led to a bailout worth 7.5 billion euros ($10.24 billion) agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union at the end of 2008.
The economy contracted 19 percent in 2009, the biggest drop in the European Union.
Following are key facts about Dombrovskis, who became prime minister in March 2009:
* Dombrovskis at 39 is one of the youngest prime ministers in the European Union.
* He was also a young finance minister, holding the post between 2002 and 2004
* He was a member of the European Parliament when he came back to Latvia to lead the government after the previous coalition collapsed in the face of the tough decisions needed to deal with the budget gaps left by the crisis.
* Dombrovskis said after being named prime minister that his country faced bankruptcy if steps were not urgently taken.
* Dombrovskis has always remained outwardly calm and contained despite coping with the EU's worst economic drop and ructions within his ruling coalition which led to the defection of the former largest government party in March 2010.
* President Valdis Zatlers, who has a mainly non-executive role, but nominates the prime minister and has a role overseeing the general welfare of the country, had twice to attend emergency government meetings to get the coalition to pass the necessary budget measures to keep to the IMF loan programme.
(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; editing by Tony Austin) Keywords: LATVIA ELECTION/DOMBROVSKIS (Riga newsroom, patrick.lannin@reuters.com, patrick.lannin.reuters.com@reuters.net, +371 29 269 191) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Voters seem to have backed Dombrovskis as an honest leader cleaning up the mess left by previous governments, which led to a bailout worth 7.5 billion euros ($10.24 billion) agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union at the end of 2008.
The economy contracted 19 percent in 2009, the biggest drop in the European Union.
Following are key facts about Dombrovskis, who became prime minister in March 2009:
* Dombrovskis at 39 is one of the youngest prime ministers in the European Union.
* He was also a young finance minister, holding the post between 2002 and 2004
* He was a member of the European Parliament when he came back to Latvia to lead the government after the previous coalition collapsed in the face of the tough decisions needed to deal with the budget gaps left by the crisis.
* Dombrovskis said after being named prime minister that his country faced bankruptcy if steps were not urgently taken.
* Dombrovskis has always remained outwardly calm and contained despite coping with the EU's worst economic drop and ructions within his ruling coalition which led to the defection of the former largest government party in March 2010.
* President Valdis Zatlers, who has a mainly non-executive role, but nominates the prime minister and has a role overseeing the general welfare of the country, had twice to attend emergency government meetings to get the coalition to pass the necessary budget measures to keep to the IMF loan programme.
(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; editing by Tony Austin) Keywords: LATVIA ELECTION/DOMBROVSKIS (Riga newsroom, patrick.lannin@reuters.com, patrick.lannin.reuters.com@reuters.net, +371 29 269 191) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.