Voters from all political parties support 2nd president term for Karis
Three-quarters or more of voters of all parliamentary parties, except EKRE, support Alar Karis serving a second term as president, a new survey shows.
The presidential elections will be held in September and the candidate is elected by members of the parliament, not the public.
Although no official candidates have yet been nominated, the media has already speculated about several possible names.
In its latest survey, NGO Ühiskonnauuringute Instituut and Norstat studied which parties support Karis' continuing in the role.
First, respondents were asked: "Do you support Alar Karis continuing as president for a second term?" Seventeen percent of respondents said "No" or "Rather no," 70 percent said "Rather yes" or "Yes," and 13 percent answered "Don't know."
The data showed that Karis has support among all big parties: Center Party and SDE (both 81 percent), Isamaa (79 percent), and Reform (75 percent). EKRE had a slightly smaller majority at 55 percent.
Additionally, 76 percent of supporters of the non-parliamentary party Parempoolsed – which is polling over the 5 percent threshold – also back Karis for a second term.
Second, respondents were asked to show preferences for candidates mentioned in the media as possible candidates. Karis was by far the most popular, with over 40 percent support.
The following ranking emerged:
President Alar Karis — 41.6 percent
Former foreign minister and current MEP Marina Kaljurand — 5.5 percent
Entrepreneur Indrek Neivelt — 5.4 percent
Former President Kersti Kaljulaid — 4.7 percent
Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise — 4.2 percent
Former prime minister and current MEP Jüri Ratas — 3.6 percent
Ambassador to NATO Jüri Luik — 2.9 percent
Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jonatan Vseviov — 2.3 percent
Lawyer and former Chancellor of Justice Allar Jõks — 2 percent
Former foreign minister and current MEP Urmas Paet — 1.6 percent
President of Estonian Academy of Sciences Tarmo Soomere — 1.1 percent
Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General and current MP Indrek Tarand — 1 percent
Former foreign minister and current MEP Sven Mikser — 0.9 percent
Auditor General Janar Holm — 0.6 percent
Former EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas — 0.5 percent
Former EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson — 0.5 percent
Don't know — 21.5 percent
Norstat conducted the survey online on March 2 among Estonian citizens aged 18 and older, with a total of 1,001 respondents participating.
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Editor: Helen Wright
