2003 Estonian parliamentary election

2003 Estonian parliamentary election

←  1999 2 March 2003 2007  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
101 seats in the Riigikogu 51 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Edgar Savisaar Juhan Parts Siim Kallas Party Centre Res Publica Reform Last election 28 seats – 18 seats Seats won 28 28 19 Seat change New 1 Popular vote 125,709 121,856 87,551 Percentage 25.40% 24.62% 17.69% Swing 2.00pp New 1.79pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Villu Reiljan Tunne Kelam Ivari Padar Party People's Union Pro Patria Union SDE Last election 7 18 17 Seats won 13 7 6 Seat change 6 11 11 Popular vote 64,463 36,169 34,837 Percentage 13.03% 7.31% 7.04% Swing 5.82pp 8.79pp 8.11pp
Results by electoral district
Prime Minister before election Siim Kallas Reform Prime Minister after election Juhan Parts Res Publica

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 2 March 2003. The newly elected 101 members of the 10th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Two opposing parties won the most seats, with both the Centre Party and Res Publica Party winning 28 seats in the Riigikogu. Res Publica was able to gain enough support in negotiations after the elections to form a coalition government.

Background

Following the 1999 election, a Triple Alliance coalition government was formed by Mart Laar of the Pro Patria Union, including the Reform Party and the Moderates. ^[1]

By late 2001, scandals related to the privatization of state-owned enterprises had made the government unpopular, and relations between the Pro Patria Union and the Reform Party deteriorated. In December 2001, the Reform Party entered a coalition with the Centre Party in Tallinn, as a result of which Edgar Savisaar became the mayor. This happened after Reform had left the same Triple Alliance governing coalition in Tallinn. Prime Minister Mart Laar decided to resign, as he felt that the national level Triple Alliance government had essentially collapsed ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Following that, a new coalition government was formed between the Reform Party and the Centre Party, with Siim Kallas from the Reform Party of Estonia as Prime Minister. ^[5]

On 26 November 2002 the President of Estonia, Arnold Rüütel, set 2 March 2003 as the election date. ^[6] 947 candidates from 11 political parties contested the election as well as 16 independents. ^[7]

Electoral system

The 101 members of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) were elected using a form of proportional representation for a four-year term. The seats were allocated using a modified D'Hondt method. The country is divided into twelve multi-mandate electoral districts. There is a nationwide threshold of 5% for party lists, but if the number of votes cast for a candidate exceeds or equals the simple quota (which shall be obtained by dividing the number of valid votes cast in the electoral district by the number of mandates in the district) the candidate is elected.

District number	Electoral District	Seats
1	Haabersti, Põhja-Tallinn and Kristiine districts in Tallinn	8
2	Kesklinn, Lasnamäe and Pirita districts in Tallinn	10
3	Mustamäe and Nõmme districts in Tallinn	8
4	Harjumaa (without Tallinn) and Raplamaa counties	12
5	Hiiumaa, Läänemaa and Saaremaa counties	7
6	Lääne-Virumaa county	6
7	Ida-Virumaa county	8
8	Järvamaa and Viljandimaa counties	9
9	Jõgevamaa and Tartumaa counties (without Tartu)	8
10	Tartu city	8
11	Võrumaa, Valgamaa and Põlvamaa counties	9
12	Pärnumaa county	8

Contesting parties

See also: List of political parties in Estonia

The Estonian National Electoral Committee announced that 11 political parties and 16 individual candidates registered to take part in the 2003 parliamentary election. Their registration numbers and order were determined by the order of registration. ^{[8] [7]}

#	Name		Ideology	Political position	Leader	Total candidates	1999 result
							Votes (%)	Seats
1		Centre Party	Populism	Centre-left	Edgar Savisaar	125	23.4%	28 / 101
2		Moderate People's Party	Social liberalism	Centre to centre-left	Ivari Padar	125	15.2%	17 / 101
3		People's Union	Agrarianism	Centre to centre-left	Villu Reiljan	125	7.3%	7 / 101
4		Pro Patria Union	National conservatism	Right-wing	Tunne Kelam	125	16.1%	18 / 101
5		Social Democratic Labour Party	Democratic socialism	Left-wing	Tiit Toomsalu	12	2.3% [lower-alpha 1]	0 / 101
6		United People's Party	Russia's national interests [9] [10] [11] [12]	Centre-left	Andrei Zarenkov	106	6.1%	6 / 101
7		Reform Party	Classical liberalism	Centre-right	Siim Kallas	125	15.9%	18 / 101
8		Res Publica Party	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right	Juhan Parts	125	did not exist
9		Christian People's Party	Christian democracy	Centre-right	Aldo Vinkel	30	2.4%	0 / 101
10		Independence Party	Estonian nationalism	Far-right	Vello Leito	37	did not participate
11		Russian Party	Russian minority interests	Syncretic	Stanislav Tšerepanov	12	0.2%	0 / 101
—		Individual candidates	—			16	did not exist

Campaign

Opinion polls showed the Centre Party led by the mayor of Tallinn, Edgar Savisaar, with a small lead in the run up to the election. ^[13] They were expected to gain support from among those who had not benefited from the rapid economic reforms that had taken place over the last decade. ^[14] However their populism and their lack of a clear policy on whether Estonia should join the European Union meant they were likely to struggle to form a coalition after the election. ^[14]

The leading critics of the Centre Party were from the new conservative Res Publica Party, which had only been formed in 2002. ^[5] Res Publica's campaign focused on the need to address crime and corruption ^[5] and they portrayed themselves as being a change to the older political parties. ^[14] Res Publica had performed strongly in the 2002 local elections after being formed from the youth wings of some of the other right wing political parties. ^[14]

A leading issue in the election was the tax system with the Centre Party pledging to scrap the flat tax and change it to a progressive tax system. ^[15] Both Res Publica and the Reform Party opposed this, with the Reform Party calling for the tax rate to be cut significantly. ^[15] The personalities of the various party leaders were also a significant part of the campaign, with opponents particularly attacked the Centre Party leader Edgar Savisaar. ^[15] Savisaar had quit as interior minister in 1995 after being accused of taping rival politicians ^[5] and during the campaign the media raised questions over the financing of his campaign. ^[15]

Results

The results saw the Centre Party win the most votes but they were only 0.8% ahead of the new Res Publica party. ^[16] As a result, both parties won 28 seats, which was a disappointment for the Centre Party who had expected to win the most seats. ^[17] Altogether the right of centre parties won 60 seats, compared to only 41 for the left wing, and so were expected to form the next government. ^{[5] [18]} Voter turnout was higher than expected at 58%. ^[15] The Russian minority parties lost representation in parliament, with most of such voter switching to Estonian parties of the left (Estonian Centre Party) or some to the non-nationalist right (Reform Party).

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Estonian Centre Party [lower-alpha 2]	125,709	25.40	28	0
	Res Publica Party	121,856	24.62	28	New
	Estonian Reform Party	87,551	17.69	19	+1
	People's Union of Estonia [lower-alpha 3]	64,463	13.03	13	+6
	Pro Patria Union	36,169	7.31	7	–11
	Moderate People's Party	34,837	7.04	6	–11
	Estonian United People's Party	11,113	2.25	0	–6
	Estonian Christian People's Party	5,275	1.07	0	0
	Estonian Independence Party	2,705	0.55	0	New
	Social Democratic Labour Party	2,059	0.42	0	New
	Russian Party in Estonia [lower-alpha 4]	990	0.20	0	0
	Independents	2,161	0.44	0	0
Total		494,888	100.00	101	0
Valid votes		494,888	98.84
Invalid/blank votes		5,798	1.16
Total votes		500,686	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		859,714	58.24
Source: Nohlen & Stöver [19]

1. As part of Estonian United People's Party
2. The Estonian Centre Party list included members of the Estonian Pensioners' Party.
3. The People's Union of Estonia list included members of the New Estonia Party.
4. The Russian Party in Estonia list included members of the Party of Estonian Unity, Russian Baltic Party in Estonia and the Russian Unity Party.

Aftermath

Both the Centre and Res Publica parties said that they should get the chance to try and form the next government, ^[20] while ruling out any deal between themselves. ^[21] President Rüütel had to decide who he should nominate as Prime Minister and therefore be given the first chance at forming a government. ^[21] On the 2 April he invited the leader of the Res Publica party, Juhan Parts to form a government ^[22] and after negotiations a coalition government composed of Res Publica, the Reform Party and the People's Union of Estonia was formed on the 10 April. ^[22] The government has also been referred to as the Harmony coalition. ^{[23] [24] [25] [26]}

References

1. Estonia: Parliamentary Chamber: Riigikogu: Elections held in 1999 Inter-Parliamentary Union
2. "Kallas: kolmikliit peab jätkama". Delfi (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-08-21.
3. Muuli, Kalle (2014). Hainsalu, Esta (ed.). Kodanike riik: reformierakond loomisest kuni tänapäevani. Tallinn: Menu Kirjastus. ISBN   978-9949-549-07-8.
4. "Kuidas kolmikliit valitsust moodustas". Äripäev (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-08-21.
5. "Deadlock in Estonia election". BBC News Online . 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
6. "Baltic Report: December 6, 2002". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2002-12-06. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
7. "Baltic Report: January 28, 2003". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2003-01-28. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
8. Heinsalu, Alo; Koitmäe, Arne; Mandre, Leino; Pilving, Mihkel; Vinkel, Priit; Eero, Gerli; Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu; Eesti, eds. (2011). Valimised Eestis: statistikat ja selgitusi. Tallinn: Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon.
9. Eesti Päevaleht 20 June 2008: Kaitsepolitsei aastaraamat: Vene luure tegi mullu Eestis usinalt tööd Archived 2008-06-30 at the Wayback Machine by Kärt Anvelt
10. "Counterintelligence". Annual Review 2007 (PDF). Tallinn: Estonian Security Police. 2008. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-15.
11. KAPO aastaraamat 2007
12. "Kaitsepolitsei aastaraamat: Vene luure tegi mullu Eestis usinalt tööd". Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-08-22.
13. Sullivan, Ruth (2003-02-24). "The". Financial Times . p. 32.
14. "Slim win for Estonia's left". CNN. 2003-03-02. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
15. "Center-left party wins popular vote in Estonia". TheStar.com. 2003-03-03. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
16. Election leaves hung parliament, The Independent, 2003-03-03, p. 9
17. Wines, Michael (2003-03-04). "World Briefing Europe: Estonia: Leftists Reeling After Election". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-06-01.
18. "The World This Week". The Economist . 2003-03-08. p. 8.
19. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp585–588 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
20. "Estonia: Two Parties Want To Form Government After Close Election". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2003-03-03. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
21. "Estonia quandary after split vote". BBC News Online . 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
22. "Estonia: parliamentary elections Riigikogu, 2003". Inter-Parliamentary Union . Retrieved 2009-06-01.
23. "Koosmeele koalitsioon 2003 | Reformierakond" (in Estonian). 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
24. "Koosmeele koalitsioon". Arvamus (in Estonian). 2003-03-09. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
25. "Res Publica pooldas koosmeele koalitsiooni". www.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-08-22.
26. "Res Publica pooldab koosmeele koalitsiooni". Delfi (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-08-22.

External links

• Estonian Electoral Commission