Presidential office must preserve institutional memory, says former director

Siim Raie, who headed Estonia’s presidential office from 2011 to 2015, said the office must serve the president’s priorities rather than those of its director, ERR reported. His comments came after 13 employees were made redundant following a change of director.

Friday was also the final working day for two protocol advisers. One had worked at the office for 26 years and the other for nearly 19 years.

Office director Krista Zibo said the changes were needed to save money and organise the work more effectively.

Raie said the presidential office was the president’s team, not the director’s team. Although the director managed it administratively, the president was the decisive influence.

Raie joined the office in Kadriorg six months before the end of Toomas Hendrik Ilves’s first term. He said larger changes to the team were made when presidential terms changed, because the president had a clear view of what he wanted to achieve, which issues to address and which people were needed to fulfil those goals.

He described the presidential office as a relatively personality-centred organisation. Its duties and mission derive from the law and the Constitution, but the president has flexibility to shape the organisation around the officeholder.

Raie compared the president’s work to figure skating. The compulsory programme consists of constitutional duties, while the free programme allows the president to express a personal vision and choose the tasks, issues and methods of influence they wish to pursue.

Some duties are set by law, including participation in foreign relations, awarding decorations and military ranks, and handling much of the legal work connected with adopting laws. Beyond that, the president can set out a vision for Estonia and decide what they want to do.

Raie said the staff in the office was divided between these compulsory duties and the president’s broader programme. Organisational continuity and the fulfilment of all duties had to be ensured regardless of who was serving as president.

As director, Raie handled a wide range of tasks. Each day included routine work such as responding to letters from citizens, requests for pardons and invitations from schoolchildren. At the same time, he said every president had their own vision of the office and their role, which they carried out with the help of advisers and office staff.