"We will probably know by mid-November who will continue as editor-in-chief of Sirp," Toomas Valjataga, chair of the board of the foundation told ERR on Tuesday. "I would not wait until Christmas to make this decision," he added.

Valjataga said that the competition for the position of editor-in-chief could be announced in September, followed by the formation of a selection committee, candidate interviews, and voting by secret ballot. He said that the editor-in-chief should ideally be found in advance to allow for the necessary preparations prior to assuming the position.

There had been discussion about delegating the selection of the editor-in-chief to a staffing agency, but Valjataga did not believe that this was necessary.

"From my perspective, our election process has always been democratic and fair, and decisions have always been made by secret ballot," he continued.

Kaarel Tarand, the current editor-in-chief of the Sirp, told ERR that he has not yet decided if he will run for re-election. It could depend somewhat on the culture related activities of the the new administration, he said.

Valjataga told ERR that he did not see any reason why Tarand could not contend for the position again.

Tarand was selected as the executive editor of Sirp in 2018 from a pre-selection of four candidates. He was also the editor-in-chief of Sirp from 2005 to 2013.

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