Res Publica Party

Last updated

Res Publica Party
Erakond Res Publica
Leader Taavi Veskimägi
Founded8 December 2001
Dissolved4 June 2006
Merged into Pro Patria and Res Publica Union
HeadquartersNarva mnt 7
Tallinn 10117
Ideology Liberal conservatism [1]
Conservatism [2] [3]
Liberalism [4]
Populism [4] [5]
Economic liberalism [4] [6]
Anti-corruption [4]
Political position Centre [4] to centre-right [7]
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation International Democrat Union
European Parliament group EPP–ED
Colours  Blue, Red
Website
www.respublica.ee

Res Publica Party (Estonian : Erakond Res Publica) was a political party in Estonia that self-identified as conservative. 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 (European People's Party) on the European level. It merged with Pro Patria Union in 2006 to form the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.

The party was founded under the name Union for the Republic – Res Publica (Ühendus vabariigi eest – Res Publica), but was commonly referred to as simply Res Publica and changed its name to Res Publica Party.

The party won its first parliamentary elections (in 2003) after being established. Their election slogans were "Vote for new politics" ("Vali uus poliitika") and "Choose order" ("Vali kord"). [4] They formed a coalition with the Reform Party and the People's Union. The coalition broke in 2005 as a result of opposition to the policies of Res Publica's minister of justice Vaher.

At the time of its merging with Pro Patria, it was led by Taavi Veskimägi, a former Minister of Finance. The previous chairman Juhan Parts was also Prime Minister from 10 April 2003 until 23 March 2005. Until the 2007 parliamentary elections, Res Publica was the largest party in the Riigikogu, with 28 of 101 seats.

On 4 April 2006, representatives of the Pro Patria Union and the representatives of Res Publica decided to merge the two parties. A decision was made to form a new party, named Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit), after approval by general assemblies of both merging political forces. Approval was given by the general assemblies on 4 June 2006. The union took third place in the 2007 elections, which, though they resulted in a loss in the combined parties' strength in Parliament, was a stronger than expected showing.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Estonia</span> Occurrences and people in Estonia throughout history

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Centre Party</span> Political party in Estonia

The Estonian Centre Party is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Mihhail Kõlvart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Union of Estonia</span> Estonian political party

The People's Union of Estonia was a political party in Estonia. Its last leader was Margo Miljand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Reform Party</span> Political party in Estonia

The Estonian Reform Party is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kaja Kallas since 2018. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (Estonia)</span> Political party in Estonia

The Social Democratic Party is a centre-left political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Lauri Läänemets. The party was formerly known as the Moderate People's Party. The SDE has been a member of the Party of European Socialists since 16 May 2003 and was a member of the Socialist International from November 1990 to 2017. It is orientated towards the principles of social-democracy, and it supports Estonia's membership in the European Union. From April 2023, the party has been a junior coalition partner in the third Kallas government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunne Kelam</span> Estonian politician

Tunne-Väldo Kelam is an Estonian politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Estonia. He is a member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, part of the European People's Party.

The Pro Patria Union was a national-conservative political party in Estonia. The party was founded on 2 December 1995 from a merger of the Estonian National Independence Party and the Pro Patria National Coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mart Laar</span> Estonian politician and historian

Mart Laar is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's rapid economic development during the 1990s. He is a member of the centre-right Isamaa party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Estonian parliamentary election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrus Ansip</span> Estonian politician

Andrus Ansip is an Estonian politician, a member of the European Parliament, the former European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, in office from 2014 until 2019. Previously, he was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2005 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal Estonian Reform Party from 2004 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taavi Veskimägi</span> Estonian civil servant and politician

Taavi Veskimägi is a former Estonian state official and politician and the managing director of the Estonian electric power transmission system operator Elering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jüri Ratas</span> 18th Prime Minister of Estonia

Jüri Ratas is an Estonian politician who was the 18th prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021. He was the Leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and was the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Estonian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 4 March 2007. The newly elected 101 members of the 11th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. It was the world's first nationwide vote where part of the voting was carried out in the form of remote electronic voting via the internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isamaa</span> Political party in Estonia

Isamaa is a Christian-democratic and national-conservative political party in Estonia.

Pro Patria National Coalition Party was an Estonian political party founded in 1992. In 1995 it merged, with the Estonian National Independence Party, into Pro Patria Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urmas Reinsalu</span> Estonian politician

Urmas Reinsalu is an Estonian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2022 to 2023 and previously from 2019 to 2021. Before that, Urmas has served as the Minister of Defence between 2012 and 2014, and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2019. Reinsalu is a member and current leader of the Isamaa ("Fatherland") political party, and was the party leader from 2012 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taavi Rõivas</span> Estonian politician

Taavi Rõivas is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia from 2014 to 2016 and former leader of the Reform Party. Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs from 2012 to 2014. On 9 November 2016 his second cabinet dissolved after coalition partners, Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and Social Democratic Party, sided with the opposition in a no confidence motion. At the end of 2020, Rõivas announced quitting politics, and resigned from his parliament seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Estonian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 1 March 2015. Advance voting was held between 19 and 25 February with a turnout of 33 percent. The Reform Party remained the largest in the Riigikogu, winning 30 of the 101 seats. Its leader, Taavi Rõivas, remained Prime Minister. The newly elected 101 members of the 13th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Two political newcomers, the Free Party and the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) crossed the threshold to enter the Riigikogu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Free Party</span> Estonian political party

The Estonian Free Party was an Estonian centre-right political party founded in 2014. The last chairman of the party was Heiki Lill. The party gained 8 seats after passing the 5-percent threshold in the 2015 Estonian parliamentary elections.

References

  1. ↑ Klip, Alar. PATTERNS OF LUTHERAN POLITICS IN A POST-COMMUNIST STATE: THE CASE OF ESTONIA (PDF). p. 71. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Hanley, Seán (2006), "Getting the Right Right: Redefining the Centre-Right in Post-Communist Europe", Centre-Right Parties in Post-Communist East-Central Europe, Routledge, p. 14
  3. ↑ Cerami, Alfio (2006), Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Emergence of a New European Welfare Regime, Lit Verlag, p. 27
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lang, Kai-Olaf. Populismus in den neuen Mitgliedsländern der EU (PDF) (in German). p. 17. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Budryte, Dovile (2005), Taming Nationalism? Political Community Building in the Post-Soviet Baltic States, Ashgate, p. 77
  6. ↑ "Die estnischen Parteien". Der Standard . 5 March 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Neue estnische Regierung wurde vereidigt" (in German). Retrieved 25 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.