See: Saturday Globe Special: Russian Sphere
"Latvian leader quits after 54 die" by GARY PEACH | Associated Press, November 28, 2013
RIGA, Latvia — Latvia’s prime minister unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday, saying he can no longer lead the country after a supermarket roof collapse killed 54 people and sparked public outrage.
Choking back tears, Valdis Dombrovskis said the country needed a change in leadership and “a government that has majority support in Parliament and can solve the situation that has arisen.’’
Latvia’s longest-serving prime minister, he has been credited with steering the Baltic country away from the brink of economic disaster since taking power in 2009.
But critics have suggested the abolition of a state construction authority by his budget-slashing government weakened oversight that might have caught building flaws in the supermarket.
In recent weeks he has also run into difficulties with his ruling coalition, with several nationalist lawmakers demanding changes in how the country issues residence permits in exchange for support for next year’s budget. Though Dombrovskis survived the standoff, he apparently felt the tragedy at the supermarket last week left his leadership too damaged to continue.
The announcement triggers the fall of the entire center-right government. But it is not expected to cause a political crisis or disrupt the country’s economy, which over the past two years was the fastest growing in the European Union.
Analysts say that in all likelihood Dombrovskis’s party, Unity, will be part of the next coalition that will control the government until parliamentary elections next October.
Police have opened a criminal investigation into the cause of the tragedy.
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