Electoral office chief: Members of one party cannot run on another's list
Director of the State Electoral Office (RVT) Arne Koitmäe says, that Marek Kullamägi, who currently leads the Center Party in Ida-Viru County, cannot run for election to the Riigikogu on Eesti 200's list, without resigning from Center first.
According to Koitmäe, a member of one political party cannot stand as a candidate on the list of another party during the Riigikogu elections. Under the law, it is also not possible to temporarily suspend one's membership of a party during the electoral period, in order to run on another party's list.
"In a case like this, the candidate will simply not be registered," said Koitmäe.
"However, if a candidate wishes to run on the list of another party, he or she must first submit an application to leave their current party via the business register," she added.
On Monday, Marek Kullamägi, who leads the Center Party in Ida-Viru County, announced that he had decided to run for the 2023 Riigikogu elections on the list of non-parliamentary party Eesti 200. However, at the same time, Kullamägi said, that he did not yet intend to leave the Center Party.
Koitmäe recommends parties submit the required documents via the designated election information system, which automatically detects any issues.
"This way, political parties and individual candidates will receive faster feedback on any shortcomings in their documents, as well as any potential restrictions on candidates' nominations."
The deadline for registering candidates for the elections is at 6 p.m. on January 19, after which, checks will be carried out to ensure all documents submitted meet the requirements.
All candidates who meet the requirements to run in the elections will then be registered by the electoral commission by January 24. After that, candidates have a further three days in which they can still decide not to stand for election.
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Editor: Michael Cole