On 29 May 2019, the Saeima elected Egils Levits President of Latvia in an open vote. In the first round, 61 MPs voted for him and 32 against, making it the first presidential election after the move to open voting. A lawyer, constitutional law expert and judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Levits took office on 8 July 2019 and became one of the most visible interpreters of the Satversme and the idea of Latvian statehood in Latvian politics.

Levits’s election came at a time when transparency was being strongly emphasized in Latvian parliamentary politics, as the President was no longer elected by secret ballot. The vote also marked the rise of a constitutional law expert to the country’s highest office.