RIGA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- As Latvia is preparing for this year's European Parliament elections in May, lawmakers on Thursday voted to appoint Kristine Berzina as the new head of the Central Election Commission, parliamentary spokespeople said.
Berzina beat the commission's long-standing chairman Arnis Cimdars in the race to become Latvia's chief election official.
While the opposition Greens and Farmers Union had nominated Cimdars for reappointment, the governing center-right coalition proposed replacing him with Berzina, an experienced election official who has been heading the election commission's information department.
In the vote, 53 MPs supported Berzina and 29 cast their ballots for Cimdars.
Berzina, who is due to take office as the new Central Election Commission's new chair, said on public radio that she was not planning immediate reforms in the commission as it is necessary to complete all the preparations for the coming European Parliament elections.
"My first job is to manage the European Parliament election process well, correctly and fairly," the new election chief said.
