The 15th Riigikogu held its opening sitting

The President of the Republic Alar Karis opened the first sitting and also made a speech.

Karis presented his recommendations to the new Riigikogu. “Over the next four years, decisions will have to be taken in this chamber in order to adapt to the life-changing events we are currently experiencing,” the President said.

“The country’s electors have granted each of you a mandate to represent them. At the same time, the Constitution states that members of parliament are not bound by their mandate. What does this mean? It means that it behoves each and every one of you to represent the nation as a whole. You must take all of the concerns raised during the election into consideration. It is easy to list them in general terms: security; the economy; the cost of living; the climate; protection of nature; education; the ability of local governments to cope. And there are many others which may not spring to mind immediately but which are no less important – such as the development of technology and young people’s mental health, both of which I have spoken about and will continue to do so,” the President said.

“It has been said that politics is the art of the possible. However, we must be more ambitious than that: politics is also the art of doing that, which is initially deemed impossible. Estonia has reached a point where our aim is not merely to catch up to others on the path ahead of us, but to find new paths to go down. Indeed, this is something we have no choice but to do. In a situation where the state’s debt burden threatens to grow, our objective cannot be limited to making savings where we can. Our target must be to find opportunities for development that boost efficiency and allow us to achieve more in future than we are capable of achieving today,” Karis emphasised.

Then the members of the Riigikogu took their oath of office. The eldest member of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa read out the text of the oath.

After the members of the Riigikogu began to perform their duties, the election of the Board of the Riigikogu was held, which was organised by the National Electoral Committee. Until the election of the President of the Riigikogu, the Chairman of the National Electoral Committee Oliver Kask chaired the sitting.

Member of the Riigikogu Marek Reinaas nominated Lauri Hussar as a candidate for the President of the Riigikogu, and Member of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas nominated Martin Helme.

101 members of the Riigikogu took part in the secret ballot. 59 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of Lauri Hussar, and 20 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of Martin Helme. 22 ballot papers were invalid.

After the election, Hussar thanked the members of the Riigikogu and wished everyone success.

Member of the Riigikogu Erkki Keldo nominated Toomas Kivimägi as a candidate for a Vice-President, Member of the Riigikogu Tanel Kiik nominated Jüri Ratas and Siim Pohlak nominated Martin Helme.

101 members of the Riigikogu took part in the secret ballot. 56 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of Toomas Kivimägi, 27 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of Jüri Ratas and 17 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of Martin Helme. One ballot paper was invalid. Thus, Toomas Kivimägi was elected as the First Vice-President of the Riigikogu, and Jüri Ratas was elected as the Second Vice-President.

After the election of the Board of the Riigikogu, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas announced the resignation of the Government according to the Constitution.

At the festive opening sitting of the new Riigikogu, the Estonian National Male Choir sang, conducted by Mikk Üleoja.

The sitting ended at 6.56 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Photos of the opening sitting:

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.

(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal, +372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
gunnar.paal@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The 15th Riigikogu held its opening sitting

Source: Parliament of Estonia