General election in Estonia 1923

Konstantin Päts from the Association of Farmers (Põllumeeste Kogud)

Jaan Tõnisson, Chairman of the Estonian People's Party (Eesti Rahvaerakond)

The Estonian parliamentary elections in 1923 took place from May 5th to 7th. It was the elections for the second legislative period of the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) after the adoption of the Estonian Constitution of 1920.

Election date

The 1923 elections were held as an early parliamentary election. In a referendum that took place from February 17 to 19, 1923, the people passed a law introducing religious education in schools with a majority of 71.9%. The Riigikogu had previously rejected the law. Since the people had thus expressed their distrust in the Riigikogu , new parliamentary elections had to take place no later than 75 days after the successful referendum, according to Section 32 of the constitution.

Election process

The 100 MPs were elected for a three-year legislative period on the basis of proportional representation. The parties drew up lists for the ten constituencies for election. The same candidates could run in multiple constituencies. Seats were allocated according to the D'Hondt procedure .

In the parliamentary elections in 1923, no fewer than 26 parties and groups stood for election. There was a dispute over the admission of individual Estonian communists to the name lists. Numerous communist candidates were not admitted because they lived in the Soviet Union .

After the elections, 2,367 votes for the Estonian People's Party (Eesti Rahvaerakond) were canceled because they did not meet the requirements of the electoral law.

Election result

The general election resulted in the most fragmented Estonian parliament of the interwar period . A total of fourteen parties and groups made it into the Riigikogu . There was no threshold at that time. It was only introduced for the 1926 elections .

The 1923 elections strengthened the spectrum of right-wing parties. The Association of Farmers (Põllumeeste Kogud) was able to consolidate its electoral success achieved in the parliamentary elections in 1920 , win two more seats and become the strongest party.

The strongest parliamentary group to date, the Estonian Labor Party (Eesti Tööerakond) under Otto Strandman , lost dramatically and lost ten seats.

The left-wing socialists also lost six of their previous eleven seats and only got five seats. This led in 1925 to a union of the Left Socialists with the Estonian Social Democrats to form the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party (Eesti Sotsialistlik Tööliste Party) . The losses were mainly due to the increase in the votes of the Estonian communists. In the parliamentary elections in 1923 they stood under the name Common Front of the Working People (Töörahva Ühine Väerind) and were able to double their number of seats from five seats. The “Common Front” was a camouflage platform for the Communist Party of Estonia, which operated underground .

The Russian-speaking minority was able to increase the number of MPs from one to four seats by pooling Russian forces. The Baltic German Party in Estonia consolidated its result from 1920 with slight losses.

The Christian People's Party (Kristlik Rahvaerakond) was also able to maintain its result of 1920 and established itself as an influential factor in the Estonian party landscape of the 1920s.

Official end result

• Number of eligible voters: 688,675 (not including members of the army)
• Persons entered in the electoral register: 702,542 (with members of the army)
• Votes cast: 477,284
• Turnout: 67.8%
• Invalid votes (including military personnel): 17,199 (3.6%)
• Valid votes (including military personnel): 460.085 (96.4%)

Parties represented in parliament

Official final result of the 1923 parliamentary election (100 seats)

Political party		German name	political orientation	% (Election 1923)	Seats II. Riigikogu (election 1923)	% (Election 1920)	Seats I. Riigikogu (election 1920)
	Põllumeeste Kogud	Association of farmers	conservative-agrarian	21.6%	23	20.8%	21st
	Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatline Tööliste party	Estonian Social Democratic Labor Party	social democratic	14.0%	15th	17.1%	18th
	Eesti Tööerakond	Estonian Labor Party	Middle left	11.2%	12	21.1%	22nd
	Töörahva Ühine Väerind	Common front of the working people	Communist	9.5%	10	5.3%	5
	Eesti Rahvaerakond	Estonian People's Party	Middle right	7.5%	8th	10.4%	10
	Kristlik Rahvaerakond	Christian People's Party	Christian-conservative	7.3%	8th	7.2%	7th
	Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste party	Independent Socialist Workers Party	left socialist	4.7%	5	10.7%	11
	Rahvuslik-Vabameelne party	National Liberal Party	national liberal	4.5%	4th	-	-
	Vein ühendatud parteid	United Russian parties	Russian-speaking population	4.1%	4th	1.8%	1
	Asunikud, Riigirentnikud ja Väikepõllupidajad	"Settlers, state tenants and small farmers"	Small farmers	3.8%	4th	-	-
	Saksa-Balti Erakond	German-Baltic Party in Estonia	Baltic German minority	3.5%	3	3.9%	4th
	Üleriiklik Majaomanikkude Seltside Liit	State Union of Homeowners Associations	Homeowner	2.2%	2	1.1%	1
	Üürnike Ühendus	Tenants Association	Tenant interests	1.3%	1	-	-
	Eesti Demobiliseeritud Sõjaväelaste Liit	Union of Demobilized Soldiers of Estonia	War veterans	1.2%	1	-	-

Parties not represented in parliament from 1923 to 1926

The other parties and groups did not receive parliamentary seats:

• Töörahva Liit ("Union of the Working People"): 0.9%
• Rootsi Liit (" Swedish Union "): 0.8%
• Saare väikemaapidajad ("Small farmers from Saaremaa "): 0.5%
• Majandusrühm ("economic group"): 0.5%
• Setu-Ingeri (" Setukesen - Ingermanländer "): 0.3%
• Väikekaupmehed, asunikud, maa- ja linnatöölised ("small business people, settlers, agricultural and urban workers"): 0.2%
• Setu väikemaapidajad ("small farmers Setumaas "): 0.1%
• Maarahva Party (Võru-Valga-Põlvamaa) (" Rural People's Party from Võru - Valga - Põlvamaa "): 0.1%
• Asunikud ja riigirentnikud (Saaremaa) ("Settlers and state tenants from Saaremaa "): 0.1%
• Maarahva Party (Harjumaa) ("Rural People's Party from Harjumaa "): 0.0%
• Isamaalaste Party ("Party of Patriots"): 0.0%
• Maarahva Party (Tallinn) (" Tallinn Rural People's Party "): 0.0%

Government formation

On May 30, the Riigikogu ended its first legislative term. The legislative period of the new parliament began one day later. On June 7th, the new parliament met for its first plenary session. It chose Jaan Tõnisson to Parliament President.

After the election, the previous government under Prime Minister Juhan Kukk ( Estonian Labor Party ) remained in office until August 1923. With his previous coalition of Põllumeeste Kogud (Association of Farmers, PK), Eesti Tööerakond (Estonian Labor Party, ETE) and Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Tööliste Party (Estonian Social Democratic Labor Party, ESDTP), Kukk was able to rely on 50 seats in parliament.

In August 1923, Kukk was replaced as Prime Minister by the election winner, the chairman of the Federation of Farmers Konstantin Päts , who formed a center-right coalition of the Põllumeeste Kogud and the Eesti Tööerakond , the Kristlik Rahvaerakond and the Eesti Rahvaerakond . It could rely on a slim majority of 51 of the 100 MPs.

literature

• Sulev Vahtre (Ed.): Eesti Ajalugu. Volume 6: Vabadussõjast Taasiseseisvumiseni. Ilmamaa, Tartu 2005, ISBN 9985-77-142-7 , pp. 70 f.
• II Riigikogu valimised 5th - 7th mail 1923. Elections au Parlement en mai 1923. Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo, Tallinn 1923.

Web links

• 1923 - Meie parliament ja aeg (Estonian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.riigikogu.ee/rito/index.php?id=13743&op=archive2
2. ↑ Parliamentary election 1920: "Central Council of Tallinn Trade Unions" (Tallinna Ametiühisuste Kesknõukogu)
3. ↑ Parliamentary election 1920: "Russian National Association in Estonia" ( Vene Rahvuslik Liit Eestis )
4. ↑ http://www.eestimajandus.ee/moodul.php?moodul=CMS&Komponent=Lehed&id=323&sm_id=467