Estonia: Party confirms that Savisaar is kicking off presidential campaign

The presidential campaign of the Center Party chairman, Edgar Savisaar, is about to start, the party's spokesman Taavi Pukk said.

"We can say that something is about to start, but whether and how it will go on becomes clear from the speech that Savisaar will make on June 7," Pukk told BNS on Wednesday.

A large poster had appeared on a billboard in central Tallinn overnight with a picture of Savisaar and the text "Savisaar for President" on it, informing that the opening event of the Savisaar presidential campaign will take place at the National Library on the evening of June 7.

Savisaar, who has been excluded from the office of mayor of Tallinn by a court order pending the outcome of a corruption investigation, marked his 66th birthday on Tuesday by briefly assuming the job of shop clerk at the municipal grocery store of Tallinn, where he handed to customers flyers with the text "Savisaar for President" together with cash receipts.

The Estonian president is elected in the parliament, where a candidate needs the backing of at least 21 MPs to be nominated and a two-thirds majority or 68 votes to get elected. If the Riigikogu is unable to elect the president in two attempts plus a run-off, the task will pass on to an electoral college made up of all 101 members of the parliament plus representatives of municipal councils.

The election of the next Estonian president will be held in August this year. Incumbent Toomas Hendrik Ilves has served two consecutive five-year terms and cannot run again.