Search This Blog

Friday, March 10, 2023

Elections to ‘Riigikogu’ - Kaja Kallas set to continue governance !!

 

Ever heard of ‘Riigikogu’ ??    the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and elects the President. Can you identify this good looking person ?



In India we have the Parliament – consisting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. During British rule, the legislative branch of India was the Imperial Legislative Council, which was created in 1861 via the Indian Councils Act of 1861 and disbanded in 1947, when India gained independence. Following independence, the Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India, its members serving as the nation's first parliament.  In 1950 after the constitution came into force, the Constituent Assembly of India was disbanded, and succeeded by the Parliament of India, which is active to this day.

The Parliament House (Sansad Bhavan) is located in New Delhi. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who were made responsible for the planning and construction of New Delhi by the British government, as the home of the Central Legislative Assembly, the Council of State, and the Chamber of Princes. The construction of the building took six years, and the opening ceremony was performed on 18 January 1927 by the viceroy and governor-general of India, Lord Irwin.  

The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957.  It was a combined Madras and many constituencies have been reorganized since.  Mr TT Krishnamachari was elected from Madras; Mrs Maragatham Chandrasekar from Thiruvallur, O/v Alagesan from Chinleput, A Krishnaswami from Kanchipuram, K Kamaraj from Srivilliputhur, Kakkan from Madurai, Pattom A Thanu Pillai from Thirunelveli, .. .. among others.

Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia,  is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe,  bordered by the Gulf of Finland, Latvia, Lake Peipus and Russia.  The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.  The capital city Tallinn. The Estonian language is the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language.

The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia.  Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 5 March 2023 to elect all 101 members of the Riigikogu. The Estonian Centre Party, led by Jüri Ratas, formed a government after the 2019 Estonian parliamentary election, with Ratas serving as prime minister. His government was brought down in January 2021 after a corruption investigation; Kaja Kallas of the Estonian Reform Party formed a coalition government with the Centre Party afterward, although it collapsed in June 2022. Kallas then formed a government with Isamaa and the Social Democratic Party and remained in the position of prime minister.

During the campaign period, issues discussed most extensively regarded Estonian economy, and the country's national defence and security due to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.   Based on preliminary results, the officially published election data indicate the victory of the Reform Party, which won 37 seats in total, while the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) placed second with 17 seats.  Kaja Kallas is set to return as Prime Minister.

Kaja Kallas has served as prime minister of Estonia since 2021, becoming the first woman to serve in the role. The leader of the Reform Party since 2018, she was a member of the Estonian parliament (Riigikogu) in 2019–2021, and previously in 2011–2014. Kallas was elected and served as member of the European Parliament in 2014–2018, representing the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Prior to her election to Parliament, she was an attorney specialising in European and Estonian competition law. Kallas graduated from the University of Tartu in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in law. She lived in France and Finland briefly while training in European law

On 25 January 2021, after the resignation of Jüri Ratas as prime minister following a scandal, Kallas' first cabinet, a Reform-led coalition government with the Centre Party, was formed; she became the first female prime minister in Estonia's history. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
10.3.2023.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment