Seventy-five members of the 101-seat Riigikogu nominated Madise as a candidate on Monday morning. She has cross-party support from Reform, Eesti 200, the Social Democratic Party and Isamaa factions as well as unaffiliated MPs.

The deadline for nominations closed at 6 p.m. on Monday and candidates needed at least 21 signatures to be put forward.

Kadri Masing, media advisor to the Election Commission, told ERR on Monday evening that Madise was the only candidate nominated for the first round of the election.

On Tuesday at 3 p.m., the National Electoral Committee will meet to register her as a candidate.

Madise will need 68 votes to be elected president by the parliament. Reform Party faction chair Õnne Pillak said Madise has enough votes to win.

"I believe that those who have already supported the candidate with their signatures will come and also cast their vote in support of her. I think there is also an expectation in society that we will elect Estonia's new president in the Riigikogu on September 2," she said.

Social Democratic Party chair Lauri Läänemets said Isamaa's support came as a surprise to him.

"The previous evening, before Isamaa's decision to support Ülle Madise, Isamaa MPs were still seeking signatures from unaffiliated MPs for Tiit Land. Clearly, in terms of their ratings, they found themselves in a situation where they were forced to make a U-turn," he said.

Two Isamaa MPs, deputy faction chair Priit Sibul and chair Helir Valdor Seeder, did not add their signatures to Madise's candidacy. However, faction member Lea Danilson-Järg said the party is not split over the subject.

"We reached a consensus decision that we support Ülle Madise's candidacy for president. I think it is simply a matter of who managed to get there to add their signature. There is no reason to think that there are some kind of political games going on here, because I don't think there are," she said.

Of the parliamentary parties, EKRE and the Center Party did not support Madise's candidacy. EKRE chair Martin Helme said that he would continue Mart Helme's campaign and was prepared to nominate him in the Electoral College if the Riigikogu fails to elect a president.

Center Party chair Mihhail Kõlvart had previously expressed support for TalTech Rector Tiit Land.

"The Center Party's position has not changed. In our view, there should be an election, not an appointment. Since there will be no election in the Riigikogu, we have no desire to participate in an appointment," Kõlvart said.

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