Estonian gov't coalition considers changing presidential election rules

A working group formed by Estonia's tripartite government coalition is considering constitutional amendments to replace the current election system whereby the president is elected by parliament, daily Postimees reported on Tuesday.

The coalition parties are proposing a system wherein the president of Estonia would be elected by an electoral college consisting of members of parliament and local governments. Under the current regulation, the electoral college is only called to vote on presidential candidates if the first three rounds of voting in the parliament have failed to produce a winner.

The working group is also analyzing a proposal to extend the president's term in office from the current five years to seven years. The incumbent president, however, would not be eligible to run for a second consecutive term in office.

Center Party MP Peeter Ernits told Postimees after a meeting of the working group that under the initial plan, the electoral body would have five chances to elect the president. The presidential elections would take place over a period of three days, with no more than five candidates allowed to take part in the first round. Each round of voting would eliminate the least successful candidate, and the candidate who won the highest number of votes in the runoff would become president.

Estonia's last presidential elections in the fall of 2016 saw three unsuccessful rounds of voting in parliament and two more by the electoral college. After that, the president was elected in one final vote in parliament.

Estonia's next presidential election is due to take place in 2021.

source: Xinhua