Government of Estonia explained

Government Name:Government of the Republic of Estonia
Border:central
Nativename:Estonian: Eesti Vabariigi valitsus
Date Established:24 February 1918
Date Dissolved:suspended from 17 June 1940 – 21 August 1991 (de facto)
Main Organ:Government Office of Estonia

The Government of the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus) is the cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia.

The cabinet carries out the country's domestic and foreign policy, shaped by parliament (Riigikogu); it directs and co-ordinates the work of government institutions and bears full responsibility for everything occurring within the authority of executive power. The government, headed by the Prime Minister, thus represents the political leadership of the country and makes decisions in the name of the whole executive power.

The following duties are attributed to the cabinet by the Constitution of Estonia:[1]

  1. executes the domestic and foreign policies of the state;
  2. directs and co-ordinates the activities of government agencies;
  3. administers the implementation of laws, resolutions of the Riigikogu (Parliament), and legislation of the President of the Republic of Estonia;
  4. introduces bills, and submits international treaties to the Riigikogu for ratification and denunciation;
  5. prepares the draft of the state budget and submits it to the Riigikogu, administers the implementation of the state budget and presents a report on the implementation of the state budget to the Riigikogu;
  6. issues regulations and orders on the basis of and for the implementation of law;
  7. manages relations with other states;
  8. performs other duties which the Constitution and the laws vest in the Government of the Republic.

Unlike other cabinets in most other parliamentary regimes, the Government is both the de jure and de facto executive authority in Estonia. In most other parliamentary regimes, the head of state is usually the nominal chief executive, though bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Estonia, however, the Constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Government, not the President.

Current cabinet

See main article: Kaja Kallas' third cabinet. The current cabinet was approved by the Riigikogu on 17 April 2023.

The coalition agreed on 12 ministers in addition to the prime minister with six portfolios going to Reform and three for both Estonia 200 and the Social Democrats.[2]

Previous cabinets

Estonian Provisional Government

Number Government[3] Term of officeDays in office
1Konstantin Päts' first provisional cabinet24 February 1918 – 12 November 1918262
2Konstantin Päts' second provisional cabinet12 November 1918 – 27 November 191816
3Konstantin Päts' third provisional cabinet27 November 1918 – 9 May 1919164

Constituent cabinets

Number Government[4] Term of officeDays in office
4Otto Strandman's first cabinet9 May 1919 – 18 November 1919194
5Jaan Tõnisson's first cabinet18 November 1919 – 28 July 1920254
6Ado Birk's cabinet28 July 1920 – 30 July 19203
7Jaan Tõnisson's second cabinet30 July 1920 – 26 October 192089
8Ants Piip's cabinet26 October 1920 – 25 January 192192

Riigikogu cabinets

Number Government[5] Term of officeDays in office
9Konstantin Päts' first cabinet25 January 1921 – 21 November 1922666
10Juhan Kukk's cabinet21 November 1922 – 2 August 1923255
11Konstantin Päts' second cabinet2 August 1923 – 26 March 1924238
12Friedrich Karl Akel's cabinet26 March 1924 – 16 December 1924266
13Jüri Jaakson's cabinet16 December 1924 – 15 December 1925365
14Jaan Teemant's first cabinet15 December 1925 – 23 July 1926221
15Jaan Teemant's second cabinet23 July 1926 – 4 March 1927225
16Jaan Teemant's third cabinet4 March 1927 – 9 December 1927281
17Jaan Tõnisson's third cabinet9 December 1927 – 4 December 1928362
18August Rei's cabinet4 December 1928 – 9 July 1929218
19Otto Strandman's second cabinet9 July 1929 – 12 February 1931584
20Konstantin Päts' third cabinet12 February 1931 – 19 February 1932373
21Jaan Teemant's fourth cabinet19 February 1932 – 19 July 1932152
22Kaarel Eenpalu's first cabinet19 July 1932 – 1 November 1932106
23Konstantin Päts' fourth cabinet1 November 1932 – 18 May 1933199
24Jaan Tõnisson's fourth cabinet18 May 1933 – 21 October 1933157
25Konstantin Päts' fifth cabinet21 October 1933 – 24 April 19381647

Presidents cabinet

Number Government[6] Term of officeDays in office
26Kaarel Eenpalu's second cabinet9 May 1938 – 12 October 1939522
27Jüri Uluots' cabinet12 October 1939 – 21 June 1940254
28Otto Tief's cabinet (acting) 18 September 1944 – 25 September 19448

Cabinet-in exile

Number Government[7] Term of officeDays in office
29Johannes Sikkar's cabinet 12 January 1953 – 22 August 19602780
30Aleksander Warma's cabinet 1 January 1962 – 29 March 1963453
31Tõnis Kint's cabinet 1 March 1964 – 8 May 19712625
32Heinrich Mark's cabinet 8 May 1971 – 1 March 19906873
33Enno Penno's cabinet 20 June 1990 – 7 October 1992841

Restored Estonia

Number Government[8] Term of officeDays in office
34Edgar Savisaar's cabinet (acting) 3 April 1990 – 29 January 1992668
35Tiit Vähi's first cabinet (acting) 30 January 1992 – 21 October 1992266
36Mart Laar's first cabinet21 October 1992 – 8 November 1994749
37Andres Tarand's cabinet8 November 1994 – 17 April 1995161
38Tiit Vähi's second cabinet17 April 1995 – 6 November 1995204
39Tiit Vähi's third cabinet6 November 1995 – 17 March 1997498
40Mart Siimann's cabinet17 March 1997 – 25 March 1999739
41Mart Laar's second cabinet25 March 1999 – 28 January 20021041
42Siim Kallas' cabinet28 January 2002 – 10 April 2003438
43Juhan Parts' cabinet10 April 2003 – 13 April 2005735
44Andrus Ansip's first cabinet13 April 2005 – 5 April 2007723
45Andrus Ansip's second cabinet5 April 2007 – 6 April 20111463
46Andrus Ansip's third cabinet6 April 2011 – 26 March 20141086
47Taavi Rõivas' first cabinet26 March 2014 – 9 April 2015380
48Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet9 April 2015 – 23 November 2016 594
49Jüri Ratas' first cabinet23 November 2016 – 29 April 2019 886
50Jüri Ratas' second cabinet29 April 2019 – 26 January 2021 608
51Kaja Kallas' first cabinet26 January 2021 – 18 July 2022 537
52Kaja Kallas' second cabinet18 July 2022 – 17 April 2023273
53Kaja Kallas' third cabinetIncumbent

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. Riigi Teataja. 16 May 2014.
  2. Web site: Who's who: Estonia's proposed new government . 14 July 2022 . ERR . 15 July 2022.
  3. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.
  4. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.
  5. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.
  6. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.
  7. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.
  8. Web site: Varasemad valitsused. valitsus.ee. 21 November 2016. 5 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140805005438/https://valitsus.ee/et/valitsus/varasemad-valitsused. dead.