SDE will hold a party congress in the central Estonian town of Paide on March 16, where the new board will be elected.

Among those in the hunt are former government minister Jaak Aab (pictured), one of several high-profile politicians who left Center for SDE earlier this year.

Former MEP Ivari Padar and former agriculture minister Tiit Tammsaar are also running.

SDE Secretary General Reili Rand told ERR: "We are still in the process of submitting candidates."

"Candidates have been submitted from among the ranks of Riigikogu MPs, ministers and members active in other areas. You will find there both more well-known names, as well as perhaps lesser-known names so far as the public goes," Rand went on.

Party vice chair nominees include Health Minister Riina Sikkut, ex-minister Jevgeni Ossinovski and MP Eduard Odinets, as well as former health minister Tanel Kiik – another recent defector for Center.

Nominees to the board are, in alphabetical order: Jaak Aab, Madis Kallas, Priit Lomp, Maris Neeno, Eduard Odinets, Ivari Padar, Lauri Paeveer, Karin Paulus, Jüri Ross, Riina Sikkut, Maris Sild, Tiit Tammsaar and Joosep Vimm.

The party will also approve its European Parliament election program and the electoral candidate list at the March 16 congress.

Marina Kaljurand, one of two SDE MEPs, has already been named as number one candidate (of a possible maximum of nine) on the party's list. The other sitting MEP, Sven Mikser, Jevgeni Ossinovski, Tanel Kiik, Ivari Padar, Elo Kiivet, and Riina Sikkut have also been nominated, meaning only two names are still unknown (assuming the above are approved); party chair and Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets will not be running.

Reili Rand said that more candidates have already been nominated than the list limit permits.

SDE members had to submit the election list by end of business Friday, while the electoral list will reach the congress the weekend after next, at the proposal of the board.

Estonia is treated as one electoral district in European elections, with seven MEP mandates up for the taking; parties spend a lot of time picking the order of candidates, mainly because any excess votes a candidate has after clinching a seat can be distributed to the next candidate on the list not to have won a seat.

Another reason is that European elections tend to be more personality- than party-based, compared with the Riigikogu and municipal elections.

Rand added that the congress will not address the political situation in Tallinn. SDE is in a somewhat uneasy coalition in the capital with a greatly weakened Center Party, with virtually all the opposition parties lining up for a potential rainbow coalition which would unseat Center after 20 years of dominance.

SDE's congress takes place at the Paide theater on Saturday, March 16. Paide is often chosen as a venue for party congresses due to its central location.

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