Alar Karis on second presidential term bid: I'll think about it
While there is still time to decide on a potential second term, politicians should first decide who and what they want, President Alar Karis said.
The presidential election process, held at the Riigikogu, starts in August, and while Karis is eligible for a second term, he had previously stated this was unlikely. More recently, there have been signs that he might reconsider.
Speaking on Kanal 2 broadcast "Silmast silma," Karis said: "There is still quite a bit of time until then [until the presidential election]. /.../ I will think about it. For now, I want to continue doing my daily work, and since there is still time, there is no rush. Politicians need to figure out what they want and whom they want."
Since a Riigikogu election follows in March 2027, the president said that, as far as he can see, politicians will want to resolve the issue of presidential candidate(s) as quickly as possible so they can turn their focus back to the parliamentary election.
Since a two-thirds majority is required at the 101-seat Riigikogu to elect a president, a cross-party consensus candidate is needed.
The opposition Center and Isamaa parties have already stated a preference for Karis to continue as president. While the Social Democrats (SDE), also in opposition, as well as the coalition Reform Party and Eesti 200, have not expressed a clear preference, they have not expressed opposition to Karis returning to office either – though recent controversy over Estonia's foreign policy course, including on what form a Ukraine peace deal should take, has pitted the president against Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200).
Only the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) has openly opposed a second term for Karis, just as it had opposed his first term.
Karis said any support for him is not a "minor miracle," adding, "support always tends to go that way — some like you and others don't," and that his assumption is that whoever gets elected next president will be voted in during a Riigikogu ballot, meaning a more protracted process involving the regional electoral college would not be necessary.
The Riigikogu's Council of Elders, comprising the Riigikogu speaker, the two deputy speakers, plus the heads of each party faction, met last week.
The speaker, Lauri Hussar (Eesti 200), said at that meeting he would first sound out Karis on his intentions regarding running for a second term.
Karis meanwhile said this planned meeting will not take place so quickly and that when it does, it will be the president inviting the speaker to lunch and not the speaker inviting himself to lunch with the head of state.
"We will try to agree on a time," Karis added.
Karis added that a better length of presidential term would be seven years in order to accomplish all that has been planned for that term, while presidents should be limited to a single term in that case.
Key dates for the presidential election were also set at last week's Riigikogu Council of Elders meeting: Three rounds of voting in the Riigikogu would potentially take place not in August, but in early September, with the electoral college to convene at the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn on September 26 if the original ballots at the Riigikogu draw a blank.
Amendments to the President of the Republic Election Act, which would bring forward the candidate registration deadline for the presidential election, also need to be passed by the Riigikogu, Hussar recently said.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
Source: Kanal 2
