Paet: Parties should nominate experienced politicians for president

TALLINN – Urmas Paet, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, believes that presidential candidates should include people with strong domestic and foreign policy experience, but unfortunately, party leaders are unwilling to support candidates associated with another party.

"I increasingly hear complaints about why no politician has put forward their candidacy in the presidential election or seems to want to become president. This is not actually the case," Paet wrote on social media.

"I have always been of the opinion that people with strong foreign and domestic policy experience—in other words, several politicians—should naturally be among the serious presidential candidates. Unfortunately, the problem thus far has been that the leaders of the parties that elect the president seem unwilling to support anyone associated with another party, even though the president must act as a balancing force in their office, not as a representative of any single party. And anyone with serious political experience understands this well," Paet stated.

In his view, Estonia needs a president who understands Estonian society and can act effectively in foreign policy right from the start. This means they must have solid experience in both domestic and foreign policy and have had to seek a mandate from the people in either Riigikogu or European Parliament elections.

"Party leaders have the opportunity to look at the bigger picture, just as their predecessors did when they elected the politically experienced Lennart Meri, Arnold Rüütel, and Toomas Hendrik Ilves as president. It is possible for party leaders to put forward politically experienced candidates, as the presidency is a top political position. This way, the office could be utilized most effectively in the interests of Estonian society," Paet explained.