Electoral college fails to elect next head of state
The electoral college on Saturday failed to elect a president. With neither Siim Kallas nor Allar Jõks making the necessary majority of votes in the second voting round, the election now passes on back to the Riigikogu.
Results:
Siim Kallas: 138
Allar Jõks: 134
Blank: 57
Invalid: 3
167 votes would have been necessary for election.
The election will now go back to the same Riigikogu that previously proved incapable of electing a president.
Siim Kallas declared prior to Saturday’s election that he wouldn’t run anymore should the task be passed back to parliament. Assuming that Kallas won’t change his mind, this will leave the Reform Party without a candidate. Talking to ERR's Anna Gavronski, Kallas said that Estonia had entered a constitutional crisis, and that the system definitely needed to be changed.
Allar Jõks said he was satisfied with his result, but not happy. Asked if he would be a candidate in the now upcoming second election in the Riigikogu, Jõks said he wouldn't run anymore. "That wouldn't be digified," he added.
Asked if he had expected today's result, President of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor, who presided over the two unsuccessful voting rounds, said that he had been certain that they would elect a president today.
The Riigikogu will make the next attempt at choosing President Toomas Hendrik Ilves' successor on Oct. 3 this year.
The next rounds in the Riigikogu will require a repetition of the already known procedure of candidates gathering 21 personal nominations, for which at least some of the parties will have to find new candidates, or agree on a common candidate with each other.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn