Estonian Center Party

Eesti Keskerakond Estonian Center Party
Party leader	Jüri Ratas
founding	October 12, 1991
Headquarters	Toom-Rüütli 3/5 10130 Tallinn
Alignment	Political center , social populism , social liberalism
Colours)	green
Parliament seats	25/101 ( Riigikogu )
Number of members	14,707 (2018)
MEPs	1/7 ( 2019 )
European party	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
EP Group	Renew Europe (RE)
Website	www.keskerakond.ee

The Estonian Center Party (Estonian: Eesti Keskerakond ) is an Estonian center-left - party with social-populist elements. It is one of the most important parties in Estonia. Since November 2016 she has provided the Prime Minister of Estonia with Jüri Ratas .

history

The Estonian Center Party was founded shortly after Estonian independence was regained on October 12, 1991 in Tallinn . In 1992 the party newspaper Seitse Päeva ("Seven Days") was launched.

Domestic politics

The Estonian Center Party is one of the most stable and influential parties in Estonia. She was involved in three of the 15 coalitions that have ruled since 1992, including between 2005 and 2007 together with the Reform Party and the Estonian People's Union under Prime Minister Andrus Ansip . The Center Party is represented in important city and local governments. a. She currently (2015) holds the absolute majority of the seats in the Tallinn City Council. With over 9,000 members (as of 2006) it is the second largest party in Estonia in terms of membership. In the Riigikogu , the Estonian parliament, it has been the second strongest force behind the Estonian Reform Party for several years . In the 2015 election , the Center Party was able to improve its position slightly with 24.8% (+ 1.5%) or 27 out of 101 seats (+ 1 seat).

Europe

The Estonian Center Party has been a member of the ALDE in the European Parliament since May 2004 , after earlier applications had been rejected twice. Before the referendum on Estonia's accession to the EU , the Rakvere party congress (August 2003) called by a relative majority of the voters of the Center Party to vote against the country's EU membership. The party chairman Savisaar deliberately did not make clear statements. As a consequence of this positioning, the representatives of the liberal wing left the Center Party and formed the “Social Liberal Group” in parliament ( Riigikogu ). Most of the Social Liberals later joined the Social Democratic Party .

In the 2004 European elections , the Center Party received one of six Estonian seats. Siiri Oviir entered the European Parliament as the party's MEP .

Positions

The Estonian Center Party is regarded as a center-left party in the economically liberal society of Estonia. She advocates the introduction of a progressive income tax and emphasizes the balancing role of the state in the social market economy . The party has become a reservoir for pensioners and low-income earners and is also attractive to the Russian-speaking minority. The party is also known for populist actions. Nevertheless, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELK) gave its members a recommendation for the 2019 parliamentary election that the Estonian Center Party most closely reflects the positions of the EELK.

The political scientist Kai-Olaf Lang names KESK as an example of a social-populist party. These strived for an expansion of state interventions, a slowdown in the conversion of property and a more redistributive policy, without, however, fundamentally calling into question the prevailing economic and social order. He therefore counts them among the group of “soft populists”. David Arter, on the other hand, compares them with the Nordic agrarian parties , in particular with the Swedish Centerpartiet , which served as a direct model for the Estonian Center Party.

Election results

Results in the parliamentary elections

year	be right	proportion of	Mandates	space
1992	56,124	12.2%	15/101	3.
1995	76,634	14.2%	16/101	2.
1999	113,378	23.4%	28/101	1.
2003	125,709	25.4%	28/101	1.
2007	143,518	26.1%	29/101	2.
2011	134.124	23.3%	26/101	2.
2015	142,442	24.8%	27/101	2.
2019	118,561	23.0%	26/101	2.

Results in the European elections

year	be right	proportion of	Mandates	space
2004	40,704	17.5%	1/6	2.
2009	103.506	26.1%	2/6	1.
2014	73,419	22.4%	1/6	2.
2019	47,799	14.4%	1/7	2.

Chairperson

Jüri Ratas (* 1978) was elected chairman of the party in November 2016 . He replaced the former Prime Minister (1990–1992) and Tallinn's Lord Mayor Edgar Savisaar (* 1950), who was party chairman from 1991 to 2016 when the party was founded.

The former party chairman Savisaar, the party's long-time draft horse, was accused by his opponents of an authoritarian leadership style.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Elisabeth Bakke: Central and East European party systems since 1989. In: Sabrina P. Ramet: Central and East European party systems since 1989. Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989. Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 79.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Kai-Olaf Lang: Populism in East Central Europe. Forms of manifestation, peculiarities and opportunity structures. In: Rudolf von Thadden, Anna Hofmann: Populism in Europe - Crisis of Democracy? Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, pp. 137–154, on p. 145.
3. ↑ taz online from March 2, 2019: Good forecasts for right-wing extremists
4. ↑ David Arter: From Farmyard to City Square? The Electoral Adaptation of the Nordic Agrarian Parties. Ashgate, 2001, p. 181.

Web links

• Estonian Center Party (Estonian, English, Russian)