General election in Estonia 2015

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Result (in%)

 %

30th

20th

10

0

27.7

24.8

15.2

13.7

8.7

8.1

0.9

0.9

RE

K

SDE

IRL

EVA

EKRE ^f

EER

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 2011

 % p

 10

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-0.9

+1.5

-1.9

-6.8

+8.7

+6.0

-2.9

-3.7

RE

K

SDE

IRL

EVA

EKRE ^f

EER

Otherwise.

Remarks:

^f 2011: ERL

Distribution of seats

      

A total of 101 seats

• SDE : 15
• K : 27
• RE : 30
• EVA : 8
• IRL : 14
• EKRE : 7

Flag and national coat of arms above the entrance portal of the Estonian Parliament

The 2015 parliamentary elections in Estonia took place on March 1, 2015. It was the election of the 13th Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia after independence was declared in 1918.

Starting position

The last parliamentary election took place on March 6, 2011. At that time four parties made it into parliament:

Result of the 2011 parliamentary elections in Estonia

Political party		Abbreviation	Result
			be right	%	Mandates
	Estonian Reform Party	RE	164.255	28.6	33
	Estonian Center Party	K	134.124	23.3	26th
	Pro Patria and Res Publica Union	IRL	118.023	20.5	23
	Social Democratic Party	SDE	98,307	17.1	19th

Andrus Ansip , Prime Minister and Chairman of the Reform Party since 2005, formed a coalition government made up of the Liberal Reform Party (RE) and the conservative Pro-Patria and Res-Publica Union (IRL) after the elections . The government had a stable absolute majority of 56 of the 101 seats in parliament. In 2011, the center-left populist Center Party (K), under its chairman, Tallinn's Lord Mayor Edgar Savisaar , and the Social Democrats (SDE) went into opposition .

In March 2014, the government coalition broke up. The new Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas (RE) then formed a social-liberal coalition government . This government, in office since March 26, 2014, had a slim majority of 52 seats in parliament.

Electoral system

The one-chamber parliament ( Estonian Riigikogu ; literally: "State Assembly") is elected for a period of four years. According to the Estonian constitution, the parliament has 101 members.

All Estonian citizens who are at least 18 years old on election day are entitled to vote. Any Estonian citizen can be elected who is at least 21 years old on the last day of the registration deadline for candidates.

The election takes place according to proportional representation . The five percent hurdle applies .

Participating parties

Ten parties and 13 individual candidates were allowed to participate in parliamentary elections.

Political party		Abbreviation	Estonian name	Alignment	Top candidate
	Estonian Reform Party	RE	Eesti Reformierakond	liberal	Taavi Rõivas
	Estonian Center Party	K	Eesti Keskerakond	Middle left; populist	Edgar Savisaar
	Pro Patria and Res Publica Union	IRL	Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit	Middle right	Juhan Parts
	Social Democratic Party	SDE	Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond	social democratic	Sven Mikser
	Green Estonia	EER	Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised	green	Aleksander Laane
	Estonian People's Conservative Party	EKRE	Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond	national conservative; populist	Mart helmets
	Party of People's Unity	RÜE	Rahva Ühtsuse Erakond	conservative-liberal	Kristiina Ojuland
	Estonian Free Party	EVA	Eesti Vabaerakond	conservative	Artur Talvik
	Estonian Independence Party	EIP	Eesti Iseseisvus Party	right-wing extremist	Vello Leito
	United Left Party of Estonia	EUEVP	Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasak Party	Left	Valev Kald

Constituencies

In order to ensure a regional distribution of MPs, the country is divided into twelve multi-person constituencies ( valimisringkonnad ), in which between 5 and 14 MPs are elected:

#	Constituency	Seats	map
1	Haabersti , Põhja-Tallinn and Kristiine in Tallinn	9
2	Kesklinn , Lasnamäe and Pirita in Tallinn	12
3	Mustamäe and Nõmme in Tallinn	8th
4th	Harju County (excluding Tallinn) and Rapla County	14th
5	Hiiumaa , Lääne and Saaremaa district	6th
6th	Lääne-Viru district	5
7th	Ida-Viru district	7th
8th	Järva County and Viljandi County	7th
9	Jõgeva County and Tartu County (excluding Tartu City)	8th
10	City of Tartu	8th
11	Võru County , Valga County and Põlva County	9
12	Parnu County	8th

Election campaign

The election campaign was dominated by two main themes.

One topic was the current security situation due to the ongoing Ukraine crisis . Politicians across party lines agreed that the security of the Baltic state had to be strengthened. All parties criticized the current Russia policy towards Ukraine. This also applied to the Center Party, which is considered to be more pro-Russia and was initially reluctant to criticize Russia . Neither party questioned NATO membership or the country's western orientation.

The other topic was about the social and economic situation in the country, which is characterized by high unemployment and low wages. Almost all parties promised similar solutions: low-wage earners should be better off through a higher minimum wage or tax exemption, families with children should receive more support. The incumbent prime minister and top candidate of the ruling reform party Taavi Rõivas wanted to make Estonia a "new Nordic country" and a "prosperous and growing nation".

Survey

Surveys (in%)

Survey period	RE	K	IRL	SDE	EER	EVA	EKRE
February 2015	23	22nd	14th	20th	2	9	9
January 2015	25th	22nd	15th	18th	2	8th	5
December 2014	32	23	16	21st	2	1	2
November 2014	29	22nd	18th	22nd	4th	2	2
October 2014	27	27	16	19th	3	2	3
September 2014	27	26th	18th	23	3	-	2
August 2014	29	25th	15th	26th	1	-	4th
July 2014	31	24	16	24	1	-	3
June 2014	31	24	14th	25th	2	-	2
May 2014	29	24	15th	27	3	-	2
April 2014	25th	22nd	19th	28	1	-	3
March 2014	24	27	16	26th	2	-	2
Election 2011	28.6	23.3	20.5	17.1	3.8	-	-

Election result

Nationwide result

Result of the general election in Estonia in 2015

Political party		be right			Seats
		number	%	+/-	number	+/-
	Estonian Reform Party (RE)	158,971	27.7	−0.9	30th	−3
	Estonian Center Party (K)	142,460	24.8	+1.5	27	+1
	Social Democratic Party (SDE)	87,190	15.2	−1.9	15th	−4
	Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL)	78,697	13.7	−6.8	14th	−9
	Estonian Free Party (EVA)	49,882	8.7	New	8th	New
	Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE)	46,772	8.1	New	7th	New
	Green Estonia (EER)	5,193	0.9	−2.9	0	± 0
	Party of People's Unity (RÜE)	2,289	0.4	New	0	New
	Estonian Independence Party (EIP)	1,047	0.2	−0.7	0	± 0
	United Left Party of Estonia (EUEVP)	764	0.1	New	0	New
	Independent candidates	887	0.2	−2.6	0	± 0
total		574.153	100.0	-	101	-
Valid votes		574.153	99.3	+0.2
Invalid votes		3,757	0.7	−0.2
voter turnout		577.910	64.2	+0.7
Non-voters		321,883	35.8	−0.7
Eligible voters		899.793
Source: State Electoral Commission

Results by constituency

For the numbering of the constituencies and the party abbreviations see above. The party with the relative or absolute majority in the constituency is highlighted accordingly.

Most parties showed a fluctuating but similar share of the vote nationwide. Most striking was the distribution of votes for the Center Party, which correlated closely with the percentage of Russian-speaking population in the relevant constituency. The Center Party's share of the vote was highest in the eastern regions of Estonia and in Tallinn.

electoral circle	map	electoral participation	Voters	Parties
				RÜE	RE	EKRE	IRL	EER	EUEVP	EVA	K	SDE	EIP	Independent
1		68.9%	56,339	0.2	25.1	5.3	12.8	1.0	0.1	8.1	33.6	13.7	0.2	0.1
2		67.7%	74,325	0.2	21.8	4.6	10.8	0.8	0.1	8.2	42.7	10.5	0.1	0.3
3		72.6%	52.210	0.1	30.2	8.8	10.9	1.0	0.1	10.4	24.4	14.0	0.1	0.0
4th		68.4%	87,755	0.3	35.2	8.0	16.5	1.0	0.4	11.6	14.1	12.4	0.2	0.2
5		60.4%	33,673	0.2	31.1	11.2	14.7	1.8	0.0	12.8	13.0	14.9	0.3	0.0
6th		59.2%	26,943	1.2	26.9	9.2	19.1	0.7	0.1	8.2	19.5	14.8	0.3	0.0
7th		55.0%	34,481	0.5	11.9	3.1	8.2	0.3	0.2	2.4	58.9	14.3	0.2	0.0
8th		59.7%	38,620	0.5	27.7	7.9	17.7	0.5	0.0	6.1	15.9	23.0	0.2	0.5
9		62.3%	40,859	0.4	29.1	9.3	14.9	0.9	0.2	7.6	18.7	18.6	0.3	0.0
10		66.3%	44,907	0.2	33.4	6.9	14.4	1.6	0.0	11.1	15.1	16.8	0.1	0.2
11		59.5%	44,561	0.6	24.8	9.6	12.7	0.7	0.1	7.3	19.5	24.3	0.2	0.4
12		60.6%	39,459	1.0	28.9	18.2	13.5	0.6	0.1	6.6	19.1	11.8	0.2	0.0

Election analysis

In future, six instead of the previous four parties will be represented in the Estonian parliament. Despite slight losses, the liberal reform party remains the strongest group in parliament. The election is a success of the liberal reform party, which has been the prime minister since 2007. At the same time, the result is a personal victory for Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, who is only 35 and who only took office in March 2014. The previous coalition partner, the Social Democrats, suffered a decline in voter support, but remained the third strongest political force. The center-left government thus lost its absolute majority. Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas is therefore dependent on (at least) two coalition partners. He wants to lead coalition explorations with all parties except the Center Party. The main points of contention in coalition negotiations are the maintenance of a uniform income tax rate of 21%, which the reform party wants to adhere to, and the need for local government reform.

As in the 2011 parliamentary elections, the second strongest party was the Center Party around Tallinn's Lord Mayor and former Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar. The party was able to score especially with the Russian-speaking population and gained one seat. In the Tallinn districts with a strong Russian-speaking population and in the Russian-influenced Ida-Viru district , the Center Party remained the strongest political force.

The conservative IRL suffered heavy losses. She lost nine seats and only has 14 seats. With the Free Party, a split of the IRL was able to move into parliament straight away. She received eight seats.

For the first time, a right-wing populist party made it into parliament after previous attempts had failed. The EKRE won seven seats in parliament with 8.1% of the vote. Her topics are above all a rejection of immigration to Estonia (which hardly exists anyway), the demand for a tougher policy towards Russia and a basic Eurosceptic attitude, e.g. B. in relation to grants to Greece.

On April 9, 2015, Taavi Rõivas was sworn in again as Prime Minister. In the new government, the Reform Party has seven ministers , the Social Democratic Party and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union each have four ministers.

Others

After his predecessor Andrus Ansip announced that he was going to Brussels as EU Commissioner, Rõivas became Prime Minister on March 26, 2014. The election campaign was influenced by the conflict in Ukraine , which sparked new security fears in Estonia and other former Soviet republics. The strong Russian minority in Estonia predominantly voted for the Center Party. Their boss Edgar Savisaar had spoken out in favor of closer ties to Russia. The other major parties had therefore declared in advance that they did not want to form a coalition with him. Economic and socio-political issues also played a role in the election campaign. Around a fifth of those eligible to vote used the opportunity to vote electronically .

Web links

• State Electoral Commission (Estonian and English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Riigikogu valimised 2015. State Election Commission, accessed on March 2, 2015 (Estonian, official election result 2015). 
2. ↑ http://www.vvk.ee/?lang=en
3. ↑ Russia as a topic in the Estonian election campaign derStandard.at , February 26, 2015
4. ↑ Top-bottom trenches instead of east-west taz.de , March 2, 2015
5. ↑ Election in Estonia: Threatened by the evil orange taz.de , February 28, 2015
6. ↑ Erakondade toetusreitingud ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. TNS Emor (Estonian) 
7. ↑ spiegel.de March 1, 2015: Estonia: ruling party wins parliamentary elections