13th Riigikogu

On 1 March 2015, the Estonian citizens with the right to vote elected the new, 13th Riigikogu. According to the election results, the Reform Party, who received 30 mandates and who was supported by 27.7% of voters, achieved the greatest representation in the 101-member parliament.

The voter turnout was one of the most active in the last decades – 577,910, that is, 64.2% of the 899,793 citizens with the right to vote participated in the elections.

In the new Riigikogu, the Centre Party has 27 mandates (24.8%), the Social Democrats 15 (15.2%) and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union 14 (13,7%). The Estonian Free Party received 8 mandates (8.7%) and the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia received 7 mandates (8.1%) – they have not belonged to the Riigikogu before.

872 people stood as candidates for the Riigikogu, 11 of them as independent candidates. 27% of the candidates were women. Of the ten lists of political parties, six were full lists with 125 candidates.

Members of the Riigikogu

The average candidate to the Riigikogu was a 49 years old man with higher education. 236 women stood as candidates for the parliament. 24 of them were elected to the Riigikogu, i.e., four more than in 2011.

By education, the members of the Riigikogu are mostly lawyers, journalists, economists, historians and engineers. In the new Riigikogu, there are 41 members who have no previous experience in parliamentary work. Eiki Nestor, Mart Nutt and Edgar Savisaar have belonged to all seven Riigikogus after the restoration of the independence of Estonia.

Opening sitting of the 13th Riigikogu

The 13th Riigikogu held its opening sitting on 30 March 2015. Rein Ratas, the eldest member of the 13th Riigikogu, read aloud the oath of office of a Member of the Riigikogu. Jaak Madison is the youngest member of the parliament.

The Board and Committees of the Riigikogu

At the first sitting of the plenary, Eiki Nestor was elected the President of the Riigikogu, and Helir-Valdor Seeder and Jüri Ratas were elected the Vice-Presidents.

On 6 April, the Board of the Riigikogu approved the number of members and the distribution of positions in the standing committees.

See the committees of the Riigikogu.

The Board of the Riigikogu was elected on 30 March 2015

Formation of the Government

The Estonian Reform Party, the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, the Social Democratic Party and the Estonian Free Party started coalition negotiations. The Government was formed by the Estonian Reform Party, the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union and the Social Democratic Party.