Source : Perth Now news
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has sacked Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks after he was caught by police while driving with a blood alcohol level of more than 0.3 per cent – or six times higher than the legal limit.
“A minister who drives under the influence of alcohol is completely irresponsible and a danger to society,” Kulbergs wrote on X.
President Edgars Rinkevics also strongly condemned the incident.
According to media reports, which have not been officially confirmed, police stopped the 40-year-old politician on Saturday and found him driving with a blood alcohol level of more than 0.3 per cent.
Latvian news agency LETA reported a breath-alcohol reading equivalent to 0.309 per cent while Latvian television reported a blood alcohol level of 0.35 per cent.
The maximum permitted level of alcohol in the bloodstream for drivers with more than two years’ experience is 0.05 per cent, according to the Latvian Automobile Association.
A blood alcohol concentration or BAC of 0.4 per cent is considered a potentially fatal level by most medical experts.
At a level of 0.3 per cent, “you’ll likely have alcohol poisoning, a potentially life-threatening condition, and experience loss of consciousness,” according to the Cleveland Clinic, a major heart and vascular care centre in the United States.
Earlier, the leadership of Uzulnieks’ party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, decided at an extraordinary meeting to dismiss him as welfare minister and expel him from the party.
The party said it would provide further information on Monday.
