A presidential election takes place later on this year; Estonia's heads of state are elected by the Riigikogu in the first instance, and not directly by the people.

Center and EKRE's Riigikogu factions were joined in submitting the bill by six independent/unaffiliated MPs.

Center's Riigikogu faction chair Lauri Laats explained the bill's rationale.

"The current indirect electoral system has proven to be complex and dependent on political agreements," Laats said.

"Recently, we learned via the media that the Reform Party and the Social Democrats had attempted to exploit the current law in order to secure a candidate favorable to themselves. Political deals like that diminish the reputation of the institution of the President of the Republic and alienate the public from politics," Laats went on.

Direct elections would make the process clearer and more transparent, and would strengthen the president's connection with the people, he added.

EKRE leader and Riigikogu faction chair Martin Helme noted that direct elections would increase the people's direct participation in public life, strengthening the president's democratic mandate and bringing the state and the people closer together.

"We believe that the right to elect the president should belong to the people. Public opinion polls have for years shown strong and stable support for direct presidential elections, indicating a societal expectation to change the current system," Helme said.

The bill would see presidential candidates being nominated by Estonian citizens with full voting rights. A minimum of 10,000 signatures of support would be required to run, and candidate registration would begin 60 days before election day, ending 20 days after it opened. On polling day itself, a candidate would be elected if they receive more than half of the votes cast, with a second round run-off to be held involving the two most voted-for candidates if the first round proved inconclusive.

The candidate in the second round who received the most votes would win; in the event of a tie, the older candidate would be elected.

In addition to Center and EKRE MPs, independents Kersti Sarapuu, Enn Eesmaa, Tõnis Mölder, Jaak Valge, Kalle Grünthal, and Leo Kunnas all joined in submitting the bill. These MPs are all former Center or EKRE members.

Under the current system, a two-thirds majority is required at the 101-seat Riigikogu for a candidate to be elected president, with a run-off second round following the first ballot. If these Riigikogu ballots draw a blank, the process passes to a regional electoral college, which convenes in Tallinn. If this round proves inconclusive too, the president is elected by the Riigikogu's Council of Elders, consisting of the party faction chairs, currently six, the Riigikogu speaker, and the speaker's two deputies. Kersti Kaljulaid was elected president in 2016 by this route. Five years later, in 2021, Alar Karis ran unopposed and obtained the necessary majority in the second Riigikogu ballot.

The process requires a degree of consensus between parties normally at loggerheads to reach the two-thirds threshold. An additional dimension this year relates to the fact that Riigikogu elections follow in March next year.

The presidential electoral process will start in August. Current incumbent Alar Karis is eligible to run for a second term, but he has not firmly indicated his intentions yet.

That direct presidential elections were not introduced in Estonia mainly results from fears over outside influence in candidate selection and election.

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