Madise says she will run for president if parliament backs her

Estonian Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has said she is willing to run for president if a sufficient majority of members of the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, believes she should continue serving the country in that role, ERR reported.

Madise’s letter to Riigikogu Speaker Lauri Hussar prompted the most discussion at a meeting of the parliament’s elders on Tuesday. Martin Helme, leader of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party, said members spent half an hour debating what Madise meant in the brief letter.

ERR is publishing the letter in full with Madise’s permission:

“Dear Speaker of the Riigikogu,

“Thank you to you and all members of the Riigikogu who, while discussing my candidacy for president, have understood my role as the head of an independent constitutional institution while I am in office.

“I confirm that if a sufficient majority of members of the Riigikogu believes that I should continue serving the country as president, I am willing to run. If a vote confirms the choice of the members of the Riigikogu, I will assume this responsibility.”

Madise expressed exactly the same position last Thursday in response to an inquiry about a possible conflict of roles involving the Chancellor of Justice as a potential presidential candidate. ERR reported on that response on Sunday, while the original text is available on the Chancellor of Justice’s website.

In that letter, Madise said that members of the Riigikogu had not asked for her consent to nominate her as a candidate and that she had not put herself forward.

“In response to all statements made independently of me, I have said that the Chancellor of Justice does not and cannot bind herself to any party, coalition or opposition.”

She added: “If a situation arises in which a large majority of members of the Riigikogu, across the boundaries of the coalition and opposition and ideological camps, finds that I am the person who would be suitable to serve as president under the current circumstances, and asks for my consent to be nominated as a presidential candidate in the Riigikogu, I will consider this very seriously.”