EKRE’s Mart Helme: All previous presidential candidates should quit
None of the five presidential candidates of yesterday’s election should run again, Mart Helme, chairman and presidential candidate of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) said. Helme had the votes of 16 electors in the first round on Saturday.
According to Helme, none of the candidates had the support they needed, and he doesn’t think they could get it next time. “New candidates are needed,” he told BNS.
The second round of yesterday’s election in the electoral college got Siim Kallas 138 votes, and Allar Jõks 134. Electors handed in 57 empty ballot sheets, three were invalid.
An extraordinary presidential election will take place in the Riigikogu in two weeks. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves proposed Oct. 3 as the new election date.
Helme said he wouldn’t run again, as he had done his job. “Thanks to me, the campaign has been much more exciting than it would have been if there had only been politically correct candidates. I definitely won’t run again. Maybe in five years, but not right now,” Helme said.
The new candidate could be someone out of the academic scene, or a diplomat with political experience, Helme said. The presidential candidate who could get EKRE’s votes would need to be at least neutral regarding the party’s positions, if not positively inclined, he added.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS