Kaljulaid says Centre and Isamaa favour Tiit Land for president

Estonian Social Democratic Party MP Raimond Kaljulaid said the Centre Party and Isamaa appear to favour Tallinn University of Technology rector Tiit Land after the parliament’s council of elders failed to secure a cross-party agreement. He was speaking to ERR.

“Isamaa and the Centre Party have repeatedly indicated over the past seven to 10 days that they would not join a cross-party agreement to put forward one candidate and guarantee support. They did not do so. Therefore, there is no cross-party agreement,” Kaljulaid said.

He added that Parliament Speaker Lauri Hussar’s statement that Ülle Madise was ready to run provided she had sufficient support was already known. ERR reported on the matter on Sunday.

“It should become clear in the coming days what the Centre Party and Isamaa will do. It seems to me that they prefer the candidacy of TalTech rector Tiit Land,” Kaljulaid said.

He said Land’s candidacy could be put forward if the two parties could count on all their members in Parliament and secure the support of two or three additional MPs.

Kaljulaid said he did not know what Madise would do in this situation or whether she would run if there was no broad cross-party support.

He predicted that if Parliament had to choose between two strong candidates, the votes could be divided and neither candidate would receive enough support, sending the election to an electoral body. If only one strong candidate remained because the other withdrew before or during the election, he said Parliament would probably elect the president.