AK: Alar Karis colleagues give thumbs-up to his election as president
Tartu native Alar Karis was closely supported by his former colleagues at the Estonian University of Life Sciences (Eesti Maaülikool), the University of Tartu and his current colleagues at the Estonian National Museum (ERM), also based in Tartu, ETV news show 'Aktuaalne kaamera' (AK) reported Tuesday evening.
While the ERM was closed to visitors Tuesday, the museum's staff congregated in the building to follow the election at the Riigikogu. After a long and anxious wait, they found themselves overjoyed with the result.
ERM finance manager Rein Kinkar told ERR that all of his colleagues were certain that Karis was worthy of the president's role.
Kinkar told AK that: "He can be a success, and the Estonian state will be preserved. We want him to stay as himself, so that he will be an intelligent statesman, and we would like him not to forget ERM's progress," he said.
ERM educationalist Virve Tuubel said that his election had for her brought with it two emotions.
She said: "On the one hand it's sad that he's leaving; on the other, there's again great joy that he's moving forwards with his own things."
The future president's wife, Tartu City Museum manager Sirje Karis, also said two emotions still predominated after the elections.
Some minutes after the results came in, as new first lady, Sirje Karis spoke with her husband.
"I told him to come home already. He promised to do so, but tomorrow evening. Then we'll be able to talk further and think what to do going forward. Aside from that it is such that … there aren't any very strong feelings to honestly talk about. But a person can get used to anything," Sirje Karis told AK.
How Sirje Karis' role as first lady will pan out, she couldn't elaborate further.
"Things will get said to me and I'll learn. However, I would really like to carry on my own work. But this will become clear...After all, home is still home, but if I need to be at his side I will go there, but home is still home," she went on.
How Sirje Karis' role as first lady will pan out, she couldn't elaborate further.
"Things will get said to me and I'll learn. However, I would really like to carry on my own work. But this will become clear...After all, home is still home, but if I need to be at his side I will go there, but home is still home," she went on.
"When he was University of Life Sciences rector, he brought some major reforms there. He brought the same reforms to the University of Tartu. So it's the case that these innovative elements are part of his character … he can certainly also be a man of the people, having been a musician.
"Musicians cannot but help being men of the people," he said.
Toomas Asser, the current University of Tartu rector, also worked with Karis, while the latter was a researcher in genetics. Asser says that one of the new president's strengths was an ability to maintain rationality and calmness even in the most anxious moments.
"He has in this one great quality, that he can maintain a great bit of his own style of humor, in his approach to things. This in the same way gives an assurance that he can link differing viewpoints, with such a good long-distance vision," Asser said.
Karis was elected at the second ballot at the Riigikogu on Tuesday, after narrowly missing out the day before. He received 72 votes where 68 were needed.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
