Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced her resignation on Monday after less than two years in office, saying there was a need for "new ideas" following a fallout within her centre-right party. "It's become clear that new people with new ideas are needed... the situation in recent weeks with an intensive communication campaign against me could not continue," she told reporters after informing President Raimonds Vejonis of the government's resignation.
"I didn't want to carry on with this intrigue." The 64-year-old had been prime minister since January 2014, when she took over from Valdis Dombrovskis who resigned after the deadly collapse of a supermarket roof for which he accepted political responsibility.
Her three-party coalition went on to score a resounding majority in an October 2014 parliamentary election that was dominated by concern in the formerly Soviet republic over Russia's growing military assertiveness in the region. On Monday, she listed among her government's achievements a successful EU presidency in the first half of 2015 and strong economic growth. But in recent months Straujuma had come in for growing criticism, including within her own Unity party.