The party's Secretary General Timo Suslov said that in light of recent developments, Chairman Kaja Kallas convened the party's board on Friday morning to discuss further steps.

"According to the statutes of the Reform Party, the board has the power to nominate a candidate for prime minister. The members of the board agreed by consensus that it is wise to move forward as quickly as possible in the current situation, thus avoiding an uncertain period in government," he said. 

Suslov said the board decided to convene an additional meeting on Saturday to choose a new candidate for prime minister. 

According to custom, the prime minister is also the chairman of the party.

Both Pevkur and Minister of Climate Kristen Michal were listed as potential candidates by Reform board member Erkki Keldo on Thursday.

But on Friday, Pevkur announced on social media that he will not participate.

"Given the challenges facing Estonia today, I have decided not to stand as a candidate for the chairmanship of the Reform Party," the minister wrote.

He said he intends to continue as the defense minister and that there is no need for a government crisis and political squabbling.

"My future in Estonian politics will be decided after the election of the new Reform Party leader," he said.

"In the last parliamentary elections, the people of Estonia gave me the second-best result after the prime minister in terms of the size of the constituency nationwide, and I have been the most trusted member of the government over the past year. Therefore, I can assure you that, regardless of what happens in the future, I will serve my constituents and the entire Estonian people with total commitment," the minister added.

Several experts familiar with the inner workings of the Reform Party have said that Kristen Michal has the best chance of becoming the next leader of the Reform Party and prime minister.

Kallas will need to step down as prime minister to become the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy which she was officially nominated for yesterday.

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