Prime Minister of Estonia

Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Eesti Vabariigi peaminister
Coat of Arms of Estonia
Incumbent Jüri Ratas since 23 November 2016
Residence	Stenbock House, Tallinn
Appointer	President of Estonia
Term length	General elections to the Riigikogu are held every four years at most. The Prime Minister is by convention the leader of the victorious party. No term limits are imposed on the office.
Inaugural holder	Konstantin Päts
Formation	24 February 1918
Website	http://valitsus.ee/

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v t e

The Prime Minister of Estonia ( Estonian: peaminister, literally Main Minister or Head Minister) 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.

In his role as appointed by the President and laid forth in the Constitution, the Prime Minister serves as the head of government. He does not head any specific ministry, but is, in accordance with the constitution, the supervisor of the work of the government. The Prime Minister’s significance and role in the government and his relations with other ministries often depend on the position of the party led by the prime minister in vis-à-vis the coalition partners, and on how much influence the prime minister possesses within his own party. If the prime minister has a strong position within his party, and the government is made up solely of representatives of that party, he can enjoy considerable authority. In all crucial national questions, however, the final word rests with Riigikogu as the legislative power.

Unlike his counterparts in other parliamentary republics, the Prime Minister is both de jure and de facto chief executive. This is because the Constitution explicitly vests executive power in the Government, of which the Prime Minister is the leader. In most other parliamentary republics, the president is at least nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the cabinet's advice.

History

Estonia was governed by a Prime Minister during the first two years (1918–1920) of its independence after the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Under Estonia's 1920 constitution, the head of government was called the State Elder (riigivanem), who was also head of state. This system was a radically parliamentary system because the State Elder could be dismissed by the Parliament with a simple majority. Moreover, the State Elder was not the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, nor could he ratify laws or dissolve Parliament. The dissolution of Parliament was only possible through a referendum (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg, "A History of Estonia" / Viron historia. 3rd edition. Helsinki: The Finnish Literary Society / Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 2007, pages 524–525). Under a new constitution passed by plebiscite in 1933, the position of Prime Minister was recreated as head of government in 1934 in a more presidential system. Under this constitution, the President could appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and Cabinet, veto laws, give decrees (statutes) and dissolve Parliament (see Zetterberg 2007, pages 558–559). The sitting State Elder, Konstantin Päts, appointed himself to the position of Prime Minister and in this position was then able to suspend elections for Elder of State and for the Estonian Parliament. He remained Prime Minister, declaring himself "President-Regent", until 1938, when elections were held under a new constitution and he was elected President.

1918–1920

Portrait		Name	Term of Office			Political Party	Cabinet	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
The executive order of the Provisional Government and the Council of Elders of the Provincial Assembly replaced the office of Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
		Konstantin Päts Prime Minister of the Provisional Government	12 November 1918	9 May 1919	179	Country People's Union (EMRL)	Päts I Provisional EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP	Provincial Assembly (1917)	None
							Päts III Provisional EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP–SEE EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP–SEE–VKK EMRL–ETE–ER–ESDTP–SEE–VKK EMRL–ETE–ER–ESRP–SEE–VKK
		Otto August Strandman (1875–1941) 1st Prime Minister	9 May 1919	18 November 1919	194	Labour Party (ETE)	Strandman I ETE–ESDTP–ER	Constituent Assembly (1919)
		Jaan Tõnisson (1868–1941?) 2nd Prime Minister	18 November 1919	28 July 1920	254	People's Party (ER)	Tõnisson I ER–ETE–ESDTP
		Ado Birk (1883–1942) 3rd Prime Minister	28 July 1920	30 July 1920	3	People's Party (ER)	Birk ER–ETE–KRE
		Jaan Tõnisson (1868–1941?) 4th Prime Minister (2nd term)	30 July 1920	26 October 1920	89	People's Party (ER)	Tõnisson II ER
		Ants Piip (1884–1942) 5th Prime Minister	26 October 1920	20 December 1920	56	Labour Party (ETE)	Piip ETE
The 1920 Constitution replaced the office with State Elder.

1934–1937

Portrait		Name	Term of Office			Political Party	Cabinet	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
The 1934 Constitution divided the office of State Elder between a new office called State Elder and a Prime Minister.
		Konstantin Päts 6th Prime Minister (in duties of the State Elder) (2nd term)	24 January 1934	3 September 1937	1,319	Farmers' Assemblies and Association of Settlers (PK/ARVK)	Päts V non-party coalition	V (1932)	Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder Konstantin Päts
						Fatherland Union (I) [Note 1]		Parliament disbanded [Note 2]
	The Amendment Act of the 1938 Constitution temporarily merged the offices of State Elder and Prime Minister into President-Regent.

1938–1944

Portrait		Name	Term of Office			Political Party	Cabinet	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
The 1938 Constitution divided the office of President-Regent between a President and a Prime Minister.
		Kaarel Eenpalu (1888–1942) Acting Prime Minister	24 April 1938	9 May 1938	537	Fatherland Union (I)	Päts V non-party coalition [Note 3]	Parliament disbanded	President Konstantin Päts (1938-1940)
		7th Prime Minister	9 May 1938	12 October 1939			Eenpalu II non-party coalition	VI (1938)
		Jüri Uluots (1890–1945) 8th Prime Minister	12 October 1939	21 June 1940	254	Fatherland Union (I)	Uluots non-party coalition
1st Soviet Occupation
German Occupation
		Otto Tief (1889–1976) Acting Prime Minister	18 September 1944	25 September 1944	8	None	Tief non-party coalition	Parliament disbanded	Prime Minister in duties of the President Jüri Uluots
2nd Soviet Occupation (See Estonian Government in Exile)

1990–present

Portrait		Name	Term of Office			Political Party	Cabinet	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
2nd Soviet Occupation (See Estonian Government in Exile)
		Edgar Savisaar (1950– ) 1st Prime Minister of the Interim Government	3 April 1990 [Note 4]	29 January 1992	668	Popular Front (RR)	Savisaar Interim various coalition partners	Supreme Council (1990) [Note 5]	Chairman of the Supreme Council Arnold Rüütel
		Tiit Vähi (1947– ) 2nd Prime Minister of the Interim Government	29 January 1992	21 October 1992	266	None	Vähi Interim various coalition partners
		Mart Laar (1960– ) 9th Prime Minister	21 October 1992	8 November 1994	749	Fatherland (I)	Laar I I – M –ERSP I – M –ERSP– L	VII (1992)	President Lennart Georg Meri (1991-2001)
		Andres Tarand (1940– ) 10th Prime Minister	8 November 1994	17 April 1995	161	Moderates (M)	Tarand M – I –ERSP– L – P
		Tiit Vähi (1947– ) 11th Prime Minister (2nd term)	17 April 1995	17 March 1997	701	Coalition Party's and Country People's Alliance (KMÜ)	Vähi I KMÜ–K	VIII (1995)
							Vähi II KMÜ–ER KMÜ–AP
		Mart Siimann (1946– ) 12th Prime Minister	17 March 1997	25 March 1999	739	Coalition Party's and Country People's Alliance (KMÜ)	Siimann KMÜ–AP
		Mart Laar (1960– ) 13th Prime Minister (2nd term)	25 March 1999	28 January 2002	1,041	Pro Patria Union (IL)	Laar II IL–RM–RE	IX (1999)
									President Arnold Rüütel (2001-2006)
		Siim Kallas (1948– ) 14th Prime Minister	28 January 2002	10 April 2003	438	Reform Party (ER)	Kallas ER–K
		Juhan Parts (1966– ) 15th Prime Minister	10 April 2003	12 April 2005	735	Res Publica Party (RP)	Parts RP–ER–ERL	X (2003)
		Andrus Ansip (1956– ) 16th Prime Minister	12 April 2005	26 March 2014	3,271	Reform Party (ER)	Ansip I ER–K–ERL
									President Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2006-2016)
							Ansip II ER–IRL–SDE ER–IRL	XI (2007)
							Ansip III ER–IRL	XII (2011)
		Taavi Rõivas (1979– ) 17th Prime Minister	26 March 2014	23 November 2016	973	Reform Party (ER)	Rõivas I ER–SDE
							Rõivas II ER–SDE–IRL	XIII (2015)
									President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016-)
		Jüri Ratas (1978– ) 18th Prime Minister	23 November 2016	Incumbent	712	Centre Party (K)	Ratas K–SDE–IRL

Notes

1. All political parties were banned on 20 March 1935. The Fatherland Union was the only sanctioned political organization, but cannot be considered a political party per se.
2. The "Era of Silence" began on with Päts' self-coup on 21 March 1934. The Riigikogu approved of the coup retroactively on 15 March 1934. The Riigikogu was thereafter not convened after 2 October 1934. It was officially disbanded on 1 October 1938.
3. Although Konstantin Päts resigned as President-Regent on 24 April 1938 to become the President on the same day, his cabinet remained temporarily in office until 9 May 1938, headed by acting Prime Minister Kaarel Eenpalu.
4. The Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR on 30 March 1990 declared Soviet rule to have been illegal since 1940 and declared a transition period for full independence. Full independence was restored on 20 August 1991.
5. Elections were for the "Supreme Soviet", but the translation of the assembly name was changed before the Interim Government was sworn in, on 29 March 1990.

See also

• List of heads of government of Estonia