RIGA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs on Sunday dismissed Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks after he was detained by police on suspicion of drunk driving.
According to the Latvian news agency LETA, police stopped Uzulnieks on Saturday night in Ropazi municipality near Riga. Two alcohol tests showed readings of 3.09 and nearly 3.5 per mille, far above the legal limit of 0.5 per mille for most drivers in Latvia. He was subsequently detained, and criminal proceedings were launched.
Uzulnieks, 40, belongs to the Latvian Farmers' Union, a constituent party of the Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS), which is part of Latvia's governing coalition. Following the incident, ZZS held an emergency meeting on Sunday and withdrew its support for Uzulnieks as welfare minister. He was also expelled from the Latvian Farmers' Union.
Kulbergs signed an order dismissing Uzulnieks and appointed Agriculture Minister Uldis Augulis as acting welfare minister. The prime minister said drunk driving endangers the lives and health of others and that such conduct by a government minister was unacceptable.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics also condemned the incident, saying drunk driving by public officials was particularly unacceptable and should be punished in accordance with the law. "No one is above the law," he said.
The incident comes just weeks before Latvia's parliamentary election on Oct. 3. Uzulnieks had been the top ZZS candidate in the Zemgale constituency.
Latvia's Central Election Commission said that because candidate lists had already been formally submitted, Uzulnieks would remain on the ballot despite his expulsion from the party. ZZS said it would remove campaign materials featuring him. ■
