Impulss: How have Estonian presidents been elected since the 1990s?

Journalist Kärt Anvelt and former journalist and presidential press secretary Toomas Sildam shared memories of Estonian presidential elections since the early 1990s. In the programme Impulss, they looked back at how the country's presidential elections have unfolded over the years.

The history of Estonian presidential elections is full of dramatic moments and complex political manoeuvres. Journalist Kärt Anvelt and former journalist and presidential press secretary Toomas Sildam discussed in the programme Impulss how presidential elections in Estonia have taken place since the early 1990s.

Both commentators have closely followed presidential elections – Anvelt as a journalist and Sildam as someone who has worked both as a journalist and in a presidential team. Their recollections provide an overview of how the selection of the head of state has changed over the decades and which moments have remained most memorable.

Estonian presidential elections have on several occasions proven to be a complex process, in which the Riigikogu has been unable to reach a decision and the matter has proceeded to the Electoral College. Since Lennart Meri's election in 1992, the country has gone through several dramatic and tense rounds of presidential elections.

The programme Impulss offers listeners the opportunity to look behind the scenes of one of Estonia's most important political institutions – presidential elections. The narrators' personal experiences and observations help explain how Estonian presidential power has developed and what the major turning points have been in the election of the head of state.