The Riigikogu will elect a new president in the summer and a new bill that will see presidential candidates brought before MPs earlier in the process has already passed the first reading.

However, it does not introduce any big changes to the way presidential elections are conducted, and this will be left to future compositions of the Riigikogu.

"We did not get as far as making such a major change this time. There was not even an attempt to resolve it differently. It was decided that the current system should remain in place for now," said Constitutional Committee Chair Ando Kiviberg (Eesti 200).

He said the draft bill focuses on more modest amendments. The goal is to give the public a bit more time and better opportunities to familiarize themselves with the candidates.

Under the current rules, a candidate must be registered no later than the second day before the vote. In the future, this will be extended to nine days. Additionally, when the president is elected in the Electoral College, candidates will need to be registered by the fifth day before the first round of voting.

The new rules aim to prevent situations where candidates are nominated at the last minute, leaving voters and the public little time to get to know them.

This amendment applies only to situations where the Riigikogu is electing the president in the regular first round, or when the election is held in the Electoral College.

If the Electoral College fails to elect a president and the process returns to the Riigikogu, the candidate registration deadline would still be two days before the first vote.

Kiviberg said the deadline could be moved earlier in those cases as well. "That is not currently included in the draft bill, but the committee can still address it," he said.

A second proposed change would allow candidates to give a speech of up to 10 minutes in the Riigikogu and the Electoral College.

"Candidates have not had this opportunity before, but it gives the public a valuable chance to see and hear their views. As we know, Riigikogu sessions are public, can be followed live, and are covered by the media," Kiviberg said.

Both the Social Democrats and Isamaa also proposed changing the size of the Electoral College to include more representatives from towns and municipalities. Kiviberg said these proposals did not gain broader support.

He said, while some issues still need to be discussed in committee, the bill could soon move to a second reading in the Riigikogu's main chamber: "The proposals currently on the table have broad support. They may not be especially revolutionary, but they are meaningful."

If the amendments are adopted by the Riigikogu, Kiviberg said they could already be applied during the presidential election scheduled for August.

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