Who Is Inga Ruginiene? Lithuania’s New Prime Minister & Former Trade Union Leader

The incumbent minister for social security and labour, Social Democrat Inga Ruginiene, was approved as Lithuania’s new Prime Minister on Tuesday.

Media reports said the President asked Inga Ruginiene to present a new cabinet list to the Lithuanian parliament for a vote within 15 days.

Moreover, she will officially take charge after the President signs a decree appointing her as the Prime Minister. Also, Ruginiene, with the new Cabinet, takes the oath in the parliament.

Who is Inga Ruginiene?

Voters elected 44-year-old Inga Ruginiene to parliament for the first time in 2024. Before her political career, she also served as chair of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stepped down on August 4, which resulted in the resignation of the entire cabinet.

Moreover, on August 6, the praesidium of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) nominated Ruginiene as the party’s candidate for the prime minister.

Earlier, on August 14, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda submitted to the country’s Parliament, the Seimas, the nomination of Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) member Inga Ruginiene as Prime Minister, according to the Presidential Office.

President Nauseda told LRT TV that the information available so far gives reason to believe Ruginiene will ‘successfully do the job’ as Prime Minister, though her background requires ‘more attention’.

He said that their first meeting lasted two hours, unusually long, and that in some areas, such as part of her personal history, he had to rely on her answers.

While Ruginiene has also faced public questions about relatives in Russia, visits to the country, her husband’s business interests, and her forestry degree, which she completed in one year.

Nauseda met with her twice before forwarding her nomination to the Seimas.

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