The changed political context was an important factor in Lennart Meri's reelection to a second term. Isamaa (and its alliance with ERSP), which won the 1992 election and supported Meri, received just 7.9 percent of the vote and eight seats in the 1995 Riigikogu election. The election was won by a landslide by the Coalition Party and Rural Union, with Arnold Rüütel one of the leading figures in their campaign. They won 41 seats in parliament. Rüütel himself received no fewer than 17,189 votes while running in Võru, Valga and Põlva counties.

The president was elected in 1996 under the same procedure that remains in place today. The Riigikogu tries first. If the Riigikogu fails to elect a president, the election moves to the Electoral College. If that also fails, the process returns to parliament.

Lennart Meri and Arnold Rüütel were nominated during the Riigikogu rounds. Meri was nominated by representatives of the Reform Party, Isamaa Union, Moderates, Right-Wingers and, somewhat surprisingly, the Coalition Party as well.

In the first round, Meri received 45 votes and Rüütel 34. Meri's support rose to 49 votes in the second round and 52 in the third. That was still well short of the required 68 votes, however, and for the first time the election went to the Electoral College.

The behavior of Isamaa Union (Isamaa and ERSP merged to form Isamaa Union after the 1995 election) was noteworthy. While the party had still expressed clear support for Meri's reelection in August, ahead of the Electoral College vote it decided it would make more sense to field its own candidate, Tunne Kelam.

The Center Party put forward Siiri Oviir. The Coalition Party no longer backed either Meri or Rüütel, instead putting forward computer scientist Enn Tõugu as an independent candidate.

The Electoral College convened for its first round of voting on September 20 at the Estonia Concert Hall. In 1996, the Electoral College had as many as 374 members: the 101 members of the Riigikogu plus 273 representatives of local government councils. A candidate needed the support of at least 21 Electoral College members to be nominated.

Meri placed first in the opening round with 136 votes, but fell short of the required majority. Arnold Rüütel, who finished second with 85 votes, advanced with him to the second round later that day. Kelam was not far behind, with 76 votes.

Meri held a substantial lead in the decisive round: he received 196 votes to Rüütel's 126. As Meri won the votes of more than half of the Electoral College members who took part in the vote (he needed at least 187), he was elected president. Notably, 44 ballots were left unmarked and six were invalid.

Rosimannus: We needed fertile soil in public opinion and counties

Rain Rosimannus, who led Meri's reelection campaign at the time, recalled that when he joined the Office of the President as an adviser, Meri had fallen out with Mart Laar and Isamaa, who had campaigned for him in the previous election. "Meri had tested the constitutional limits of the presidency and at that point he had virtually no supporters in parliament," Rosimannus said.

Even more than in the previous election, trips around Estonia played a major role in Meri's reelection campaign. The aim was to ensure success in the Electoral College.

"Two things were clear to me from the outset — first, that the election would most likely go to the Electoral College. And second, that we needed our own group of supporters in parliament just to get him there as a candidate. So everything we did was geared toward creating favorable conditions in public opinion and in the counties," Rosimannus said.

He recalled that the trips around the counties began well before the summer of that year and were organized differently than before.

"The presidential motorcade did not drive straight up to the offices of the county governor, who was a state official, but instead began its couple of days in the county somewhere on its outskirts. We also stayed overnight in the county. There were many meetings with local government figures and, of course, with county governors as well," Rosimannus said.

According to Rosimannus, Meri would become irritated whenever anyone referred to his travels around Estonia as a "visit," because you do not visit your own home.

Rosimannus recalled that although the Reform Party also considered alternatives to Meri, it and the Moderates ultimately formed the core of his support through all three rounds in parliament and in the Electoral College. Support from local government figures, who were heavily influenced by Tiit Vähi and the Coalition Party, ultimately delivered Meri a narrow but satisfying victory.

Anti-Meri camp met at night to find an opposing candidate

According to Rosimannus, Isamaa Union fielding its own candidate, Tunne Kelam, came as no surprise because, as noted, Meri and Isamaa had fallen out. "Even between the first and second rounds in parliament, Meri's opponents sat down together late at night and tried to find a common rival candidate to run against Meri who wasn't Rüütel," Rosimannus said.

Regarding the decision to put forward Enn Tõugu, Rosimannus said it was probably the result of infighting between different factions within the Coalition Party.

"The Coalition Party and the parties of the Rural Union were, after all, different parties with different interests. As I understand it, Tiit Vähi, as prime minister, recognized how important Lennart Meri was to Estonia in international relations, but there were apparently other factions within the party. My guess is that Tõugu was the candidate of one of those factions (Lippmaa?), which had some old score of its own to settle with Meri," Rosimannus said.

Jaak Allik: Prime Minister Vähi decided Meri's election

Jaak Allik, who was a member of the Coalition Party at the time and served as culture minister in Vähi's government, described the different factions within the party and stressed that Arnold Rüütel, as chair of the coalition council, was the logical presidential candidate for the Coalition Party and Rural Union (KMÜ).

"I don't know how firm the promises made when KMÜ was formed were or whether they were written into any agreement, but it can be assumed that there were fairly firm commitments that Arnold Rüütel would be the electoral alliance's presidential candidate in 1996," Allik said.

"As the time approached, President Meri's domestic policy adviser Rain Rosimannus began coming to my office once a month to discuss domestic political issues. In other words, Kadriorg assumed that I was Vähi's domestic policy adviser, although that was never formally established in any way. We discussed the presidential election in every conversation and Meri was naturally very interested in whether and to what extent he could count on Coalition Party votes in the election," Allik said.

Allik noted that when the first rounds of voting showed that not all of KMÜ was behind Rüütel, the search began for a third candidate.

"I was invited to talks where it was suggested that Vähi should support neither Meri nor Rüütel, but instead find a third candidate. Vähi did not agree with that, however. As things progressed, Vähi said in a smaller circle that he would have a hard time explaining to his counterparts abroad — the prime ministers of other allied countries — why he did not support a president as popular and influential abroad as Lennart Meri. I think that psychological dynamic played a major role in shaping Vähi's choices and those of the Coalition Party at the time," Allik recalled.

"It was clear that in the Electoral College, local government representatives associated with the Coalition Party were firmly behind Meri, while the Rural Union was firmly behind Rüütel. That ultimately determined the outcome of the election. I would say that Prime Minister Vähi's position played a major role in deciding the result," Allik recalled.

On September 20, 1996, Lennart Meri was elected president of Estonia for a second term. Meri was 67 at the time.

Meri's rating lower during his second term

In the final poll of Meri's first term, conducted in March 1996, assessments of his performance as president remained more than twice as positive as when he took office. While 32 percent approved of his performance as president in 1992, that figure had risen to 69 percent by 1996.

Meri's support began to decline during his second term, however. In March 2000, 52 percent supported Meri. By October of that year, the figure had fallen to just 30 percent. At the same time, the share of critics remained low, at just 17 percent.

In the final poll, conducted in September 2001, 51 percent expressed support for Meri.

Meri wanted direct presidential elections

In his farewell address on October 8, 2001, Meri said he had discussed with his successor as president, Arnold Rüütel, a procedure for amending the Constitution that would give the people the right to elect the head of state directly.

"Today I speak as an outgoing head of state. From this evening onward, I will simply be a president, not the President of the Republic. A head of state's departure from politics gives him a unique opportunity. An opportunity and also an obligation to speak impartially and to take steps whose impartiality is beyond doubt. That is why I am initiating here today a bill to amend the Constitution with two aims: First, the direct election of the president. I hope that in 2006, the President of the Republic will be elected directly by the citizens of the Republic of Estonia. Second, the establishment of a Constitutional Court. The Republic of Estonia needs a body with the authority to make the final interpretation of the Constitution," Meri said in his farewell address.

Twenty-five years later, Estonia's president is still not directly elected, but is chosen under the same system through which Meri secured his second term.

Lennart Meri died on March 14, 2006, after a serious illness.

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