The Estonian electoral committee (VVK), an independent body, commissioned researchers from the University of Tartu to carry out an analysis on how to adjust the electoral districts for Riigikogu elections, to make them more equitable.

Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200), chair of the Riigikogu's Constitutional Committee, said the analysis is now complete, and addressed the next steps once the VVK has presented its findings.

He said: "The question is that, because the electoral committee cannot itself initiate a bill, who will?

"In this lies the current question. This has to be discussed within the coalition council, to decide how to move forward. Whether the bill is initiated by the Ministry of Justice or the Constitutional Committee—this agreement is still to be reached, and I don't have exact information yet.

"Yet I believe it will go one of two ways. From that point, we need to involve broad consultations, to ensure that any changes we make do not harm democracy," Terras continued.

While the boundaries of Estonia's electoral districts – there are 12 of these at Riigikogu elections – have long remained unchanged, demographics have changed to the extent that mandates are not as representative as they once were, the VVK found.

No presentation can happen in any case until the electoral VVK has selected a new chairperson, following the departure of Oliver Kask, who has been made a Supreme Court judge.

Members of the Riigikogu's Constitutional Committee from all three coalition parties, Eesti 200, the Reform Party and the Social Democrats (SDE), as well as from opposition party Isamaa, spoke to ERR.

All agreed that progress should be made on the electoral district reform.

Isamaa MP and leader of its Riigikogu faction Helir-Valdor Seeder said that he skeptical that the reform would be implemented before the next Riigikogu elections in 2027.

"Though it is possible that this session of the Riigikogu will pass important changes, and the reform will take effect in the subsequent elections in 2031," Seeder said.

This has the effect of making compromises easier, not harder, he said.

"At that point, the current active politicians would not view it as a short-term political decision, so they might be more willing to compromise," Seeder continued.

Even so, time marches on even at the Riigikogu.

"Half of the current session's time has already passed," Seeder said. "There are many pressing day-to-day issues, and, as experience shows, the closer we get to elections, the harder it is to reach an agreement."

In addition to electoral districts and representation, parliament could also discuss broader electoral system improvements, such as lowering the election threshold – the proportion of a vote required to win seats from any electoral district, currently set at 5 percent.

Meanwhile Reform's Kalle Laanet, also a member of the Riigikogu committee and a former justice minister said he, too, believes the situation should be examined more broadly.

"It's not just about how a candidate gets elected to the Riigikogu, but also about what the role of Riigikogu is today and will be in the future," Laanet said.

"What are society's expectations? What functions should Riigikogu perform? How big should it be? What are the rules of procedure? What social guarantees should be in place for members? I believe we are at a point where we should take a deep look at the entire process to understand what role legislative power plays in Estonian society," the Reform MP went on.

SDE MP and constitutional committee representative Eduard Odinets cautioned against making the scope too broad, however

He said: "If we try to take on too much and dismantle the system that has been in place for over 30 years, it might overwhelm the current Riigikogu, considering its capacity."

"Perhaps we should start by fixing proportionality and then move on to other issues," Odinets suggested.

The Tartu University researchers themselves did not prescribe specific redrawn boundaries in their analysis, but instead provide various options and the potential consequences of each for policymakers to consider.

Estonia's legislature is unicameral, with 101 seats distributed across the 12 districts.

Calls to establish an upper chamber have never gained much traction.

The d'Hondt system of proportional representation used in all three direct elections local, Riigikogu and European – in the latter case either this system or the single transferable vote system must be used anyway – tends to favor smaller parties, and has met little widespread criticism over its workings.

There are 79 municipalities, urban and rural, while Estonia is treated as a single electoral district at European elections, when seven MEP mandates are voted on.

Presidents are elected by the Riigikogu in the first instance, moving to a regional electoral college if this draws a blank; critics of this system are more numerous.

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