Estonian parliamentary election, 2003

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Estonian parliamentary election, 2003
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101 seats in the Riigikogu
51 seats were needed for a majority

  First party Second party Third party
  Edgar Savisaar 2005-crop.jpg Juhan-Parts.jpg Siim Kallas 3.JPG
Leader Edgar Savisaar Juhan Parts Siim Kallas
Party Centre Res Publica Reform
Last election 28 seats did not participate 18 seats
Seats won 28 28 19
Seat change 0Increase2.svg28Increase2.svg1
Popular vote 125,709 121,856 87,551
Percentage 25.40% 24.62% 17.69%
Prime Minister before election

Siim Kallas
Reform

Elected Prime Minister

Juhan Parts
Res Publica

Estonia
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This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Estonia

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 2 March 2003. 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.

Estonia Republic in Northern Europe

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), water 2,839 km2 (1,096 sq mi), land area 42,388 km2 (16,366 sq mi), and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The official language of the country, Estonian, is the second most spoken Finnic language.

Estonian Centre Party political party in Estonia

The Estonian Centre Party is a centrist, social-liberal, populist political party in Estonia. It is one of the two largest political parties in Estonia and currently has 26 seats in the Estonian Parliament. The Party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

Res Publica Party was a political party in Estonia that self-identified as conservative and therefore member of the International Democrat Union, but considering its vague platform for 2003 election, the genuineness of this ideology is disputed. Established as a party on 8 December 2001, the political organisation Res Publica was founded already as early as 1989 and existed as a community of young conservatives, mostly associated with the Pro Patria Union party during the 1990s. Res Publica was a member of the EPP on the European level. It merged with Pro Patria Union in 2006 to form the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.

Contents

Background

Before the elections the government of Estonia was a coalition of the centre-right Estonian Reform Party and the more left-wing Centre Party, with Siim Kallas from the Reform Party of Estonia as Prime Minister. [1] On 26 November 2002 the President of Estonia, Arnold Rüütel, set 2 March 2003 as the election date. [2] 947 candidates from 11 political parties contested the election as well as 16 independents. [3]

Estonian Reform Party political party from Estonia

The Estonian Reform Party is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party is led by Kaja Kallas and has 34 members in the 101-member Riigikogu, making it the largest party in the legislature.

Siim Kallas Estonian politician

Siim Kallas is an Estonian politician, who most recently served as European Commissioner for Transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud between 2004 and 2009. In both Barroso Commissions he was also vice-president.

Prime Minister of Estonia Head of government of the Republic of Estonia

The Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by the Parliament. In case of disagreement, the Parliament can reject the President's nomination and choose their own candidate. In practice, since the Prime Minister must maintain the confidence of Parliament in order to remain in office, he is usually the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition. The current Prime Minister is Jüri Ratas of the Centre Party.

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. [4] 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. [5] 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. [5]

Opinion poll type of survey

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town.

Tallinn City in Harju, Estonia

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It is on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in Harju County. From the 13th century until 1918, the city was known as Reval. Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) and has a population of 440,776.

The leading critics of the Centre Party were from the new conservative Res Publica Party, which had only been formed in 2002. [1] Res Publica's campaign focused on the need to address crime and corruption [1] and they portrayed themselves as being a change to the older political parties. [5] 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. [5]

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, human imperfection, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as monarchy, religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity. The more extreme elements—reactionaries—oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were".

In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary widely across jurisdictions.

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. [6] Both Res Publica and the Reform Party opposed this, with the Reform Party calling for the tax rate to be cut significantly. [6] 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. [6] Savisaar had quit as Interior Minister in 1995 after being accused of taping rival politicians [1] and during the campaign the media raised questions over the financing of his campaign. [6]

A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal rate, usually applied to individual or corporate income. A true flat tax would be a proportional tax, but implementations are often progressive and sometimes regressive depending on deductions and exemptions in the tax base. There are various tax systems that are labeled "flat tax" even though they are significantly different.

A progressive tax is a tax in which the average tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term "progressive" refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the person's marginal tax rate. The term can be applied to individual taxes or to a tax system as a whole; a year, multi-year, or lifetime. Progressive taxes are imposed in an attempt to reduce the tax incidence of people with a lower ability to pay, as such taxes shift the incidence increasingly to those with a higher ability-to-pay. The opposite of a progressive tax is a regressive tax, where the average tax rate or burden decreases as an individual's ability to pay increases.

Edgar Savisaar Estonian politician

Edgar Savisaar is an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Centre Party. He has served as the acting Prime Minister of Estonia, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications and Mayor of Tallinn.

Results

The results saw the Centre Party win the most votes but they were only 0.8% ahead of the new Res Publica party. [7] As a result, both parties won 28 seats, which was a disappointment for the Centre Party who had expected to win the most seats. [8] 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. [1] [9] Voter turnout was higher than expected at 58%. [6] 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).

Voter turnout percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the voting-eligible population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, but some countries further restrict eligibility based on sex, race, or religion.

However both the Centre and Res Publica parties said that they should get the chance to try and form the next government, [10] while ruling out any deal between themselves. [11] President Rüütel had to decide who he should nominate as Prime Minister and therefore be given the first chance at forming a government. [11] On the 2 April he invited the leader of the Res Publica party, Juhan Parts to form a government [12] 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. [12]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Estonian Centre Party [a] 125,70925.4280
Res Publica Party 121,85624.628New
Estonian Reform Party 87,55117.719+1
People's Union of Estonia [b] 64,46313.013+6
Pro Patria Union 36,1697.37–11
Moderate People's Party 34,8377.06–11
Estonian United People's Party 11,1132.20–6
Estonian Christian People's Party 5,7251.100
Estonian Independence Party 2,7050.50New
Social Democratic Labour Party 2,0590.40New
Russian Party in Estonia [c] 9900.200
Independents2,1610.400
Invalid/blank votes5,798–––
Total500,6861001010
Registered voters/turnout859,71458.2––
Source: Nohlen & Stöver [13]

a The Estonian Centre Party list included members of the Estonian Pensioners' Party.

b The People's Union of Estonia list included members of the New Estonia Party.

c The Russian Party in Estonia list included members of the Party of Estonian Unity, Russian Baltic Party in Estonia and the Russian Unity Party.

Related Research Articles

The history of Estonia forms a part of the history of Europe. Humans settled in the region of Estonia near the end of the last glacial era, beginning from around 8500 BC. Before German crusaders invaded in the early 13th century, proto-Estonians of ancient Estonia worshipped spirits of nature. Starting with the Northern Crusades in the Middle Ages, Estonia became a battleground for centuries where Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Poland fought their many wars over controlling the important geographical position of the country as a gateway between East and West.

Juhan Parts former Prime Minister of Estonia

Juhan Parts is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005 and Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications from 2007 to 2014. Juhan Parts is a member of the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica party.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Deadlock in Estonia election". BBC News Online . 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  2. ↑ "Baltic Report: December 6, 2002". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . 2002-12-06. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  3. ↑ "Baltic Report: January 28, 2003". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . 2003-01-28. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Ruth (2003-02-24). "The". Financial Times. p. 32.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Slim win for Estonia's left". CNN . 2003-03-02. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  6. ↑ Election leaves hung parliament, The Independent, 2003-03-03, p. 9
  7. ↑ Wines, Michael (2003-03-04). "World Briefing Europe: Estonia: Leftists Reeling After Election". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  8. ↑ "The World This Week". The Economist. 2003-03-08. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. 1 2 "Estonia quandary after split vote". BBC News Online . 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  11. 1 2 "Estonia: parliamentary elections Riigikogu, 2003". Inter-Parliamentary Union . Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  12. ↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp585–588 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
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