Presidential election in Estonia 1992

Lennart Meri was elected on October 5, 1992 as the first President of the Republic of Estonia after regaining independence

The 1992 presidential election in Estonia took place on September 20th and October 5th. It was the first election for Estonian President since the state regained independence from the Soviet Union . In October 1992 Lennart Meri (1929-2006) was elected President .

background

In the summer of 1940 the Soviet Union occupied and annexed the Republic of Estonia . On August 20, 1991, Estonia declared the restoration of its state sovereignty. Independence was also recognized under international law on September 6, 1991 by the Soviet Union.

On July 3, 1992, after a referendum, a new Estonian constitution came into force. On September 20, 1992, the election to the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) took place.

In the first election as President after regaining independence, special regulations were applied once:

• the term of office of the President is exceptionally only four instead of five years;
• First there is a popular election in which the candidate is elected who can unite more than half of the votes cast;
• if no candidate receives the required number of votes in the popular election, the right to vote is passed to parliament.

Popular election (September 20, 1992)

The direct popular election of the president took place parallel to the election of the first freely elected parliament on September 20, 1992. The turnout was 67.95 percent. In the popular election, none of the four applicants was able to achieve the majority required for election to the state president.

candidate	Yes votes
Arnold Rüütel	41.77%
Lennart Meri	29.52%
Purely Taagepera	23.39%
Lagle Parek	4.23%

Election in Parliament (October 5, 1992)

The right to elect the president was thus passed on to parliament. The election takes place by secret ballot. The two candidates who had received the most votes in the popular election stood for election in parliament.

The former Foreign Minister Lennart Meri won the vote against the former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Arnold Rüütel .

candidate	Yes votes
Lennart Meri	59
Arnold Rüütel	31
Invalid	11

Lennart Meri took office on October 6, 1992 when he was sworn in before parliament. In 1996 Lennart Meri was re-elected for a second term .

Web links

• Estonian Electoral Commission website