Estonia is preparing to hold an unusual presidential election in Parliament. There will be only one candidate in the vote on Monday, an unprecedented situation since the Baltic States regained their independence 30 years ago.
President Kersti Kaljulaid’s five-year term will expire on October 10, and the legislators of the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament must elect a new head of state to replace her main ceremonial position.
As no other candidates have registered before the Saturday deadline, Alar Karis, the director of the National Museum of Estonia, will be the only contender. Caris, the former state auditor, was the only one who managed to gain the support of at least 21 lawmakers.
The vote of only one candidate confuses the country, and several politicians have called for a thorough reform of Estonia’s complex presidential election system. Some Estonians even suggested that small European countries where the prime minister has the greatest political power should completely abolish the head of state.
Former defense minister and diplomat Jaak Jõerüüt stated in a recent commentary that “the election of only one candidate belongs to the Soviet era. This is immoral, but strangely, it is legal.”
Estonia, the former Soviet Republic, with a population of 1.3 million, regained its independence in 1991 and is now a member of the European Union and NATO.
If the president is directly elected by the people, the liberal Karl Juraid will seek re-election. The first female president of Estonia is quite popular among the public. However, according to reports, due to her outspokenness to politicians and government policies, she received little support from legislators.
The Reform Party and the Centre Party of Prime Minister Kayakalas, the center-right coalition government that makes up Estonia, have already supported Karis.
Both parties praised his understanding of Estonian society, and regarded his academic background-his leading the University of Tartu-Estonia’s main academic institution-and his work as an auditor as important advantages.
Tõnis Saarts, associate professor of comparative politics at Tallinn University, agrees with this assessment, but points out that Caris is a newbie in foreign policy.
“Considering the domestic policy level, he may be one of the most well-prepared candidates, but he has no practical experience in foreign policy formulation and diplomacy,” Salz told The Associated Press.
Caris needs to obtain a two-thirds majority or 68 votes in Parliament to be elected by secret ballot. The ruling coalition has 59 votes, and he is thought to possibly win the support of at least nine other legislators from three opposition parties.
The populist right-wing EKRE party proposed its own candidate, but there were not enough legislators to register him. The conservative motherland-a small opposition party-said it agreed with Caris on several issues, but allowed its legislators to exercise freedom in the vote.
At the same time, the Social Democratic Party is divided between Kaljulaid and Karis, but the party’s legislators and allies are too few to propose the current president’s re-election.
If lawmakers veto Caris on Monday, two additional rounds of voting are scheduled for Tuesday. If it fails, the election will be transferred to a special electoral college composed of 208 members, who will vote for a new head of state in September.
According to the Estonian Constitution, the role of the President is mainly to represent the country abroad and as a domestic opinion leader. However, the President is also the highest commander of the Estonian armed forces, formally appoints members of the government, signs laws to make them effective, and has the power to veto legal proposals.
