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1st LD Writethru: Defence minister elected Latvia's new president

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lawmakers elected Defence Minister Raimonds Vejonis Latvia's new president at an extraordinary parliament session on Wednesday, local media reported.

It took five rounds of secret voting to ensure Vejonis' victory in Latvia's 2015 presidential election.

Vejonis was elected president by 55 votes to 42. One ballot paper was declared invalid.

Rival candidates, namely Martins Bondars of the opposition Latvian Bloc of Regions (LRA), Sergejs Dolgopolovs of the opposition leftist Harmony party and Egils Levits, a judge at the European Court of Justice, were eliminated in the first four rounds of voting earlier on Wednesday.

President-elect Vejonis, 49, has served in several previous Latvian governments as environmental protection and regional development minister. He has graduated from the University of Latvia with a master's degree in biology.

Vejonis has been elected to the Latvian parliament twice and has been holding the portfolio of defence minister in Latvia's current centre-right cabinet. Endit