Helme told delegates that the Conservative People's Party is the new force that everyone has been waiting for and called for those who feel let down by older parties to join them, reported ERR radio.

As the sole candidate for the position, Helme said that the focus will be on regional and employment policies to guarantee that life can be sustained in regional areas. He also emphasized the need to protect the Estonian language and Estonian culture.

The party was founded in March 2012 as a result of a merger between the People's Union of Estonia (Rahvaliit) and the Patriotic Movement.

The descendant of the party of former president Arnold Rüütel, who was present at the congress, has 7,834 members, making it the fourth largest party in the nation, ahead of the Social Democrats as far as membership goes.

Political scientist skeptical of success

Tõnis Saarts, a lecturer of political science at Tallinn University, said that the ethnic-rural niche in Estonian politics has already been filled and there is little room for a new force.

“I fear that an answer to the question whether the Estonian Conservative People's Party has enough strengths in the organizational setup and the political lineup would be negative,” said Saarts.

According to a poll by TNS Emor in March, the party had the backing of only one percent of voting age citizens.