The Estonian parliament has elected lawyer and chancellor of justice Ulle Madise as the country’s new president. In the first round of secret balloting, she received 71 out of 101 votes, securing the necessary two-thirds majority.
Madise was the only candidate for the post of president. Seven ballots remained blank, while the rest of the deputies did not vote or were not present. Deputies from the ruling and opposition parties voted for her candidacy.
Madise will be only the second woman to lead Estonia, after Kersti Kaljulaid, who led the country from 2016 to 2021. Current President Alar Karis had previously announced that he would not run for a new term.
In her post-election speech, Madise said she would work for the good of Estonia. She described the country as one of the key security points of Europe and the free Western world, without going into specific foreign policy issues.
Madise, 51, has been the Chancellor of Justice of Estonia, an independent institution that oversees the constitutionality and legality of state and government acts and actions, since 2015. She has also been a law professor at Estonian universities and legal advisor to former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
The President of Estonia has mainly ceremonial powers, but represents the state and has an important role in matters related to national security and defense. /Telegraph