New Era Party
In 2002 Mūrniece was elected as a member of the eighth Saeima. She has been the Secretary of Parliament for both the Ministry for the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. After the resignation of Einars Repše as the Minister for Defence, Mūrniece took the office on 5 January 2006 and served until 7 April 2006 when the New Era Party resigned from the government.