SDE made the announcement, which likely means a head-to-head for the position between Kiik and Arvo Aller (EKRE), ahead of the Riigikogu board elections taking place Thursday.

Up to now, media speculation had mentioned the party's chair, Lauri Läänemets, as a potential candidate.

Kiik told ERR's radio news that there was nothing unusual about a party leader not being proposed for the Riigikogu board, and that another active party member can be nominated instead.

Läänemets, former interior minister, has plenty of work as party leader and chair of its Riigikogu faction, Kiik added.

Meanwhile, Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) chairman Martin Helme said his party will again nominate Arvo Aller for the position of Riigikogu deputy speaker, and that this nomination has the backing of the other two opposition parties, Center and Isamaa.

Helme said: "Naturally, we are nominating Arvo Aller, and we have received a pledge from both the Center Party faction and Isamaa that they will support him and do not intend to support the SDE candidate. Reasonable."

Traditionally, one of the two deputy speakers comes from an opposition party.

Kiik said that to his knowledge, Isamaa had not made a decision on who to back for the position, however.

He said: "Isamaa has three options: Put forward their own candidate, support the EKRE and Center Party candidate, or support the SDE candidate, which would be me. Theoretically, they could also leave the vote open, but I don't really believe that will happen. However, I am sure that Isamaa can form its own position without Martin Helme dictating it to them."

Läänemets said Kiik is capable of seeking and finding cross-party compromises in organizing Riigikogu work and is a committed democrat and supporter of parliamentarianism.

"According to best practices, the position of the second deputy speaker of the Riigikogu belongs to the largest opposition force, which in the current parliament is SDE. Consequently, we decided to nominate Tanel Kiik and to invite other opposition MPs to back him," Läänemets said.

The Riigikogu board elections will take place at a plenary session on Thursday, March 27, starting at 10 a.m. If both Kiik and Aller get nominated by the opposition, Isamaa will play a deciding role, but the so-called "window-seat" MPs – those who belong to no party – will also be a factor.

The SDE faction has nine MPs in the Riigikogu, but after party changes and transitions, they can count on at least 14 MPs.

SDE won nine seats at the 2023 Riigikogu election, but following party changes and defections can count on at least 14 MPs to vote with them.

EKRE currently has 11 MPs in parliament, plus they can count on Kalle Grünthal, now a "window-seat" MP.

Center also saw a large exodus of MPs last year (including Kiik, to SDE) and has seven remaining MPs.

In other words, Center, EKRE, and Grünthal together would carry 19 votes, four more than SDE.

Isamaa's faction has eight MPs, and they can also count on Jaanus Karilaid, one of those who left Center, as well as Henn Põlluaas and Ants Frosch, both of whom last year left EKRE to join ERK.

Other independent MPs who could tip the balance are: Tõnis Mölder, Kersti Sarapuu, Enn Eesmaa, Jaak Valge, and Leo Kunnas.

The Riigikogu speaker and first deputy positions usually belong to the coalition parties.

The Riigikogu board elections were scheduled to take place on Thursday in any case and are not directly connected with the recent change in government.

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