The prime minister of Estonia () is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

of the

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The prime minister is nominated by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(''

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

''). In case of disagreement, the parliament can reject the president's nomination and choose their own candidate. In practice, since the prime minister must maintain the confidence of parliament in order to remain in office, he or she is usually the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition. The current prime minister is

Kristen Michal Kristen Michal (; born 12 July 1975) is an Estonian politician who has served as prime minister of Estonia since 23 July 2024. A member of the Reform Party, he succeeded Kaja Kallas, who was appointed EU High Representative for Foreign Affair ...

of the Reform Party. He took the office on 23 July 2024 following the resignation of

Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician and diplomat. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia, a role she held from 2021 until 2024, when she resigned in advance of her appointment as High Representative of the ...

. The prime minister does not head any specific ministry. Rather, in accordance with the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, the prime minister supervises the work of the government. The prime minister's significance and role in the government, and his or her relations with other ministries, often depend on the position of the party led by the prime minister relative to its coalition partners, and on how much influence the prime minister possesses within one's own party. If the prime minister has a strong position within one's party, and the government is made up solely of representatives of that party, the prime minister can enjoy considerable authority. In all crucial national questions, at least formally, the final word rests with the parliament as the legislative power. Unlike counterparts in other parliamentary republics, the prime minister of Estonia is both ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' chief executive. This is because the constitution explicitly vests executive power in the government, of which the prime minister is the leader. In most other parliamentary republics, the president is at least nominal chief executive, while bound by convention to act on the cabinet's advice.

History

After Estonia declared independence from the then warring

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

s in 1918, the Provisional Government of Estonia was led by a Prime Minister until 1920. The 1920 Constitution set up a head of government whose position called the

State Elder The State Elder (), sometimes also translated as Head of State, was the official title of the Estonian head of state from 1920 to 1937. He combined some of the functions held by a president and prime minister in most other democracies. According ...

(''riigivanem'') and there was no separate head of state. This system was a radically

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

because the State Elder could be dismissed by the

with a simple majority. Moreover, the State Elder was not the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, nor could he or she ratify laws or dissolve the Riigikogu. The dissolution of Parliament was only possible through a referendum. Under the 1934 Constitution passed by plebiscite, the position of Prime Minister was recreated as head of government in a more

presidential system A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled " president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and l ...

. Under this constitution, the head of state took the name State Elder (''riigivanem'') identical to the name for the 1920–1934 head of government. The newly established head of state could appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and Cabinet, veto laws, give decrees (statutes) and dissolve the Riigikogu.(Zetterberg 2007, pages 558–559) The incumbent Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder of Estonia

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts ( – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president from 1938 to 1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades p ...

, staged a

self-coup A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...

to counter the threat of the Vaps Movement and suspended the full implementation of the 1934 Constitution, not going ahead with elections for the new head of state and suspending the parliament. Päts remained the Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder 1934–1937, and as

President-regent Riigihoidja (Estonian language, Estonian "Caretaker of State", sometimes translated as President-Regent) was the name of the office of the head of state and head of government, head of the caretaker government of Estonia from 3 September 1937 to ...

(''riigihoidja'') for 1937–1938. According to the 1938 Constitution, the position of the Prime Minister was retained, while the head of state was finally renamed the President under a presidential system. The 1992 Constitution after the Soviet occupation reinstated the 1938–1940 positions of Prime Minister and President under a parliamentary system.

List

1918–1920

1934–1937

1938–1944

1990–present

Timeline

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister of Estonia * Estonia, Prime Minister

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

1918 establishments in Estonia 1938 establishments in Estonia 1990 establishments in Estonia