Aldis Gobzems

Aldis Gobzems
Aldis Gobzems in 2018
Member of 13th Saeima
In office
November 6, 2018 – November 1, 2022
Personal details
Born (1978-10-10) October 10, 1978 (age 45)
Kuldīga, Latvian SSR, USSR (now Latvia)
Other political
affiliations		For Each and Every One (2021–2022)
Independent (2019–2021)
Who Owns the State? (2018–2019)
OccupationPolitician, lawyer
WebsitePersonal Twitter account
Facebook page
Personal Facebook account
Personal Instagram account
Personal YouTube channel

Aldis Gobzems (born October 10, 1978) is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He first rose to prominence as a lawyer who represented victims of the 2013 Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse,[1] and was the prime ministerial candidate for the Who Owns the State? party in the 2018 Latvian parliamentary elections.

After being elected into parliament, Gobzems was nominated by President Raimonds Vējonis on November 26, 2018, to attempt to form and lead a new government by becoming Prime Minister of Latvia,[2][3] but his nomination was revoked on December 10 after negotiations with other parties failed.[4][5] After an increasingly public dispute with fellow Who Owns the State? leader Artuss Kaimiņš, he was expelled from the party on February 4, 2019.[6]

He has commonly been described as a populist by media,[7][8][9] while he has described his former party as part of a "right-of-center bloc".[10]

  1. ^ "Maxima tragedy: court rules against tying properties to 142m claim". The Baltic Times. January 9, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  2. ^ "Gobzems nominated for PM". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "President nominates Gobzems for PM". The Baltic Times. LETA. November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "Gobzems out of the picture as candidacy pulled by President". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "Latvian president calls off KPV LV leader Aldis Gobzems nomination". Baltic News Network. LETA. December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "KPV LV expels leader Gobzems from party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Schaart, Eline (November 26, 2018). "Latvian populist party candidate nominated for PM post". Politico. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Spriņģe, Inga (November 20, 2020). "Gun in your face: Latvia's conspiracy theory leaders radicalize the population". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved April 8, 2021. Among those inciting this was an opposition politician, the populist Aldis Gobzems, who has a large following on social media, and is a former lawyer and a talented orator.
  9. ^ eng.lsm.lv (October 23, 2021). "Report: Latvian populists change rhetoric amid country's worst COVID outbreak". ENG.LSM.lv. Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "Parties still haven't met to name potential new PM". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved December 13, 2018.