Estonia's presidents are elected by the members of the Riigikogu, not the public, and a two-thirds majority – 68 of 101 votes – is needed to secure victory. Parties must work together to find a joint candidate, which has proved easier said than done in the past.

The current two-party coalition does not have enough votes to elect a president by itself, so it must work with the opposition parties.

Possible candidates are often floated in the media by politicians before their party has agreed to back the nominee – let alone multiple parties – or the candidate has even agreed to run.

Regardless of how popular a figure may be, they have to give their consent to run first, and at least 21 MPs must sign their support for the candidacy. The formalization process took place August 21-24.

Only one candidate, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise, was registered, and if she gets 68 or more votes at the Riigikogu September 2-3 she will be Estonia's next president. If she does not, the process moves to a regional electoral college, in which case more candidates may appear. Here is a summary of some of the figures who emerged over summer as potential candidates.

Not running

Alar Karis, 68

Incumbent president Alar Karis announced during his Victory Day speech on June 23 that he would not be running for a second term, ending months of speculation.

Karis cited family as the reason he did not want to continue in the role.

Government-backed, confirmed running, only candidate to register

Ülle Madise, 51

Madise is a long-serving Chancellor of Justice. She is seen by many analysts as the strongest candidate to have emerged. The Reform Party and the Social Democrats (SDE) have said they would support Madise if she agrees to run.

Early on in July, Madise said she had not given her consent to run, however. Isamaa and Center criticized the SDE's public announcement as premature. Riigikogu Speaker Lauri Hussar said August 11 that Madise was ready to run if sufficient support was found for her candidacy.

A total of 62 MPs had given their signature for Madise as candidate as of August 13, where 21 signatures are required. On August 17, Madise announced she would be running. One holdout Reform MP came over to the Madise camp, and just before Restoration of Independence Day, August 20, Isamaa announced it was endorsing Madise. This means more than 68 MPs have signed in favor of Madise running, which would translate into her being elected head of state in early September, if the MPs voted the same way at the secret ballots. In any case she is the front runner, though neither she nor any other candidate had been formally registered as of August 23, one day before the registration window closes.

On Monday, August 24, MPs presented Madise's candidacy. 75 MPs signed, three-quarters of the Riigikogu. No other candidate was registered when the window closed at the end of August 24.

Around a third of Estonians would like to see her installed as president, according to one poll in late August. She would need replacing as justice chancellor.

Interested but didn't get enough MP signatures to run

Tiit Land, 61

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) Rector Tiit Land has said he is prepared to run for president if nominated after a group of Estonian university and academic leaders endorsed Land, telling the Riigikogu that his academic leadership and international experience make him well suited to the role.

Land, also a former rector of Tallinn University, describes himself as politically neutral and says he would not represent any single party. Center Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart also endorsed Land. The rector met with independent MPs August 14 and one of these, former Eesti 200 MP Kalev Stoicecu, said he thought Land would get the required number (21) of MPs' signatures to run.

The Center Party is the only party to formally back Land, and with seven seats, this is far short of the 21 signatures needed to nominate him as a candidate. With around 70 MPs backing Madise as candidate and EKRE (nine seats) backing its own candidate, essentially all the undecided independent MPs would need to back Land for him to even have run.

You can read an interview with Land here.

Mart Helme, 76

Founder and vice-chair of the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and a former interior minister, Helme has publicly declared he is willing to run and is his party's official candidate.

EKRE has nine MPs meaning a further 12 would need to be found to sign in favor of a Helme candidacy, in order for him to be registered, which they were not.

Interested but no MPs signed off on their candidacy

Indrek Laul, 58

Laul is CEO of the Estonia Piano Factory, a high-end piano maker. He has been nominated by 30 public figures including artists, academics, and business leaders.

Supporters say he embodies balance, broad-mindedness, and the ability to unite Estonia's diverse sectors. Isamaa has met with him already.

This is the third time Laul's name has been mentioned in connection with a presidential candidacy, though he has never run before.

Read ERR's interview with Indrek Laul here.

Hannes Hanso, 54

Incoming Estonian ambassador to the U.S. Hannes Hanso has said he would be willing to run for president if asked. Hanso, until recently ambassador to China and a former defense minister, said "two or three" parties have discussed his possible candidacy.

He said he believed he would make a good president. Hanso also said he does not like the current state of affairs surrounding the presidential election process, and noted the current unstable situation in the world.

You can read in interview Hannes Hanso gave to ERR here.

Maive Rute, 60

Rute is Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Internal Market and Industry and was referenced in the media in the context of the presidential elections as early as spring.

Isamaa's Riigikogu faction recently met with her.

ERR's interview with Maive Rute is here.

Rumored to be interested

Jonatan Vseviov, 44

Foreign Ministry Secretary General and a former ambassador to the US, Vseviov says he is fully focused on his current role and not pursuing "side adventures," though has also tempered this by launching a public social media account, and gave a lengthy profile interview (link in Estonian). Isamaa for one said at the time of writing it would not be meeting with him, as he had not expressed interest.

Kersti Kaljulaid, 56

A former President of Estonia (2016–2021). Her name was suggested by Reform's Prime Minister Kristen Michal and MP Eerik-Niiles Kross, from the same party. Michal noted that he thought the next head of state should be a woman, though no one has reportedly directly discussed the idea with her. Sources close to Kaljulaid say no politicians have approached her directly on the matter, and a woman is now frontrunner candidate (Ülle Madise). Kaljulaid was ousted from her position as head of the Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) in April.

Mentioned in the media as a potential candidate, but not interested

Riho Ühtegi, 62

Riho Ühtegi, a retired major general, former commander of the Defense League (Kaitseliit), as well as a former intelligence and special ops command chief, had been proposed in July by five public figures: Composer Sven Grünberg, businessman Hugo Osula, entrepreneur and filmmaker Kris Taska, actor and director Hendrik Toompere and political analyst Raivo Vare.

The group said he would make an honest, straightforward leader with strong security and crisis-management experience.  Ühtegi accepted the offer.

However, while the opposition Isamaa party met with Ühtegi, who described himself as a conservative with an emphasis on national unity, he announced in early August that he would not be running, due to health issues.

Riina Kionka, 65

Senior diplomat Riina Kionka, a former Ambassador to NATO, has not been approached by any party and has said she does not wish to comment on domestic political matters while serving in the EU.

Her name surfaced in the context of a Reform–SDE dispute back in March when SDE Chairman Lauri Läänemets accused Reform of quietly pushing Kionka as a candidate while denying responsibility. SDE's Tanel Kiik had first publicly mentioned her name in this context.

 Läänemets later apologized to Kionka and President Karis for being "drawn into intrigues." Reform denied making any formal proposal, though Kiik then produced a text message from Reform's Secretary General Kristo Enn Vaga which suggested Kionka's name.

Jüri Luik, 59

A former Minister of Defense and NATO ambassador, Luik has ruled himself out of being a presidential candidate.

His name had been floated in broader presidential speculation in the spring, as it had been in 2021 too.

Presidential election key dates (dates passed in italics):

Friday, August 21 – registration open for formal nomination of candidates. A minimum of 21 signatures are required from Riigikogu MPs for a candidate to be nominated, and that candidate must give their consent to run.

Monday, August 24 – registration for candidates closes. Only Madise was registered.

Wednesday, September 2 – first round of Riigikogu voting.

Thursday, September 3 –  second and third rounds of Riigikogu voting.

If these Riigikogu ballots do not produce a new head of state, the process moves to a regional electoral college, which convenes in Tallinn. If this draws a blank too, the process goes back to the Riigikogu for voting. If all else fails, the final say on candidate(s) goes to the Riigikogu Council of Elders, comprising the speaker, the speaker's two deputies, and the heads of all six elected Riigikogu parties (Reform, Eesti 200, SDE, Isamaa, EKRE, Center). The Council of Elders was last resorted to in a presidential election in 2016, when Kersti Kaljulaid was elected president in October of that year. This followed an election process which started in August.

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