14/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - Maris Kucinskis named prime minister. On Wednesday 13 January, the Latvian president asked Maris Kucinskis to form a government, following the resignation, in December, of Laimdota Straujuma. Kucinskis, a member of the Greens and Farmers' Union party (centre), was regional development minister between 2004 and 2006. He will try to form a coalition, in all likelihood along similar lines to the outgoing tripartite alliance between Straujama's Unity party (centre-right), the National Alliance (right) and his own party, AFP suggests. Criticism had been directed at Straujama because of the difficulties she had had in trying to pass the draft budget for 2016, which raised taxation, and the bankruptcy of the national airline airBaltic. (MB)