Prime Minister of Estonia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia
Coat of arms of Estonia
Incumbent Kristen Michal since 23 July 2024
Government of Estonia
Style	Mister Prime Minister (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Member of	European Council
Residence	Stenbock House
Appointer	President
Term length	No term limit
Inaugural holder	Konstantin Päts
Formation	24 February 1918; 107 years ago (1918-02-24)
Abolished	1940–1991
Salary	€7303 monthly
Website	https://valitsus.ee

The Prime Minister of Estonia (called peaminister in Estonian) is the main leader of the government in Estonia. Think of them as the chief executive who runs the country's daily business. The President chooses who they think should be Prime Minister after talking to different political groups in the parliament (called the Riigikogu). The parliament then has to agree with the President's choice. If they don't agree, the parliament can suggest their own candidate.

Usually, the Prime Minister is the leader of the biggest party in the group of parties that form the government. This is because the Prime Minister needs the support of the parliament to stay in their job. The current Prime Minister is Kristen Michal from the Reform Party. He started his job on July 23, 2024, after the previous Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, resigned.

The Prime Minister doesn't lead a specific government department like a minister of education or health. Instead, their job is to oversee all the work of the government. How much power the Prime Minister has often depends on how strong their political party is compared to other parties in the government. If their party is very strong, the Prime Minister can have a lot of influence. However, for all big decisions about the country, the final say always belongs to the parliament, which makes the laws.

Unlike in many other countries with similar systems, Estonia's Prime Minister is truly in charge of the government's daily operations. This is because Estonia's constitution clearly states that the government, led by the Prime Minister, holds the executive power. In some other countries, the president might be the official head, but they usually have to follow the advice of the government.

History of the Prime Minister's Role

After Estonia became independent from the Russian and German Empires in 1918, the first government was led by a Prime Minister. This lasted until 1920.

Changes in Leadership (1920-1938)

In 1920, Estonia adopted a new constitution. This constitution created a new leader called the State Elder (riigivanem). There was no separate president at that time. This system was very focused on the parliament, meaning the parliament could easily remove the State Elder. The State Elder also didn't command the army or approve laws. The parliament could only be dissolved by a public vote.

Later, in 1934, a new constitution brought back the position of Prime Minister as the head of the government. Under this constitution, the head of state was also called the State Elder, but this time it was a separate role, more like a president. This new head of state could choose and remove the Prime Minister and the government, reject laws, and even dissolve the parliament.

Konstantin Päts, who was the Prime Minister at the time, took on the duties of the State Elder. He took special actions to deal with a political movement and stopped the full use of the 1934 constitution. He remained in charge, first as Prime Minister acting as State Elder (1934–1937), and then as President-regent (1937–1938).

Prime Minister and President (1938-Present)

The 1938 constitution officially kept the Prime Minister's role, and the head of state was finally named the President. This system was more like a presidential system. After Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991, the country regained its independence. The 1992 constitution brought back the roles of Prime Minister and President, similar to how they were from 1938 to 1940, but now under a parliamentary system.

List of Prime Ministers

1918–1920

Portrait		Name	Time in Office			Political Party	Government	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Started	Ended	Days
Before 1920, the leader was called the Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.
—		Konstantin Päts (1874–1956) Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Provisional Government	24 February 1918	12 November 1918	440	Country People's Union (EMRL)	Päts I Provisional EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP	Provisional Provincial Assembly (1917)	None
		Prime Minister of the Provisional Government	12 November 1918	27 November 1918			Päts II Provisional EMRL–ETE–EDE EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP
			27 November 1918	9 May 1919			Päts III Provisional EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP–SEE EMRL–ETE–EDE–ESDTP–SEE–VKK EMRL–ETE–ERE–ESDTP–SEE–VKK
1		Otto August Strandman (1875–1941) 1st Prime Minister	9 May 1919	18 November 1919	194	Labour Party (ETE)	Strandman I ETE–ESDTP–ERE ETE–ESDTP	Constituent Assembly (1919)
2		Jaan Tõnisson (1868–1941?) 2nd Prime Minister	18 November 1919	28 July 1920	254	People's Party (ERE)	Tõnisson I ERE–ETE–ESDTP ERE–ETE–(ESDTP)
3		Ado Birk (1883–1942) 3rd Prime Minister	28 July 1920	30 July 1920	3	People's Party (ERE)	Birk ERE–ETE–KRE
4		Jaan Tõnisson (1868–1941?) 4th Prime Minister (2nd term)	30 July 1920	26 October 1920	89	People's Party (ERE)	Tõnisson II ERE
5		Ants Piip (1884–1942) 5th Prime Minister	26 October 1920	20 December 1920	92	Labour Party (ETE)	Piip ETE
The 1920 Constitution changed the office to State Elder.

1934–1937

Portrait		Name	Time in Office			Political Party	Government	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Started	Ended	Days
The 1934 Constitution created a new role called State Elder and brought back the Prime Minister.
6		Konstantin Päts (1874–1956) 6th Prime Minister (also acting as State Elder)	24 January 1934	3 September 1937	1,319	Farmers' Assemblies (PK)	Päts V non-party coalition	V (1932)	Prime Minister acting as the State Elder Konstantin Päts
						None		Parliament suspended
The 1938 Constitution temporarily combined the roles of State Elder and Prime Minister into President-Regent.

1938–1944

Portrait		Name	Time in Office			Political Party	Government	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Started	Ended	Days
The 1938 Constitution separated the roles of President-Regent into a President and a Prime Minister.
7		Kaarel Eenpalu (formerly Karl August Einbund) (1888–1942) Acting Prime Minister	24 April 1938	9 May 1938	537	None	Päts V (continued) non-party coalition	Parliament suspended	President Konstantin Päts (1938–1940)
		7th Prime Minister (2nd term)	9 May 1938	12 October 1939			Eenpalu II non-party coalition	VI (1938)
8		Jüri Uluots (1890–1945) 8th Prime Minister	12 October 1939	21 June 1940	254	None	Uluots non-party coalition
First Soviet Occupation (1940–1941)
German Occupation (1941–1944)
—		Otto Tief (1889–1976) Acting Prime Minister	18 September 1944	25 September 1944	8	None	Tief non-party coalition	Parliament disbanded	Prime Minister acting as the President Jüri Uluots
Second Soviet Occupation (See Estonian Government in Exile § List of Acting Prime Ministers)

1990–Present

Portrait		Name	Time in Office			Political Party	Government	Riigikogu (Election)	Separate Head of State
			Started	Ended	Days
Second Soviet Occupation (See Estonian Government in Exile)
—		Edgar Savisaar (1950–2022) 1st Prime Minister of the Interim Government	3 April 1990	29 January 1992	668	Popular Front of Estonia (RR) Estonian People's Centre Party (ERKE)	Savisaar Interim various coalition partners	Supreme Soviet (1990)	Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
									Chairman of the Supreme Council Arnold Rüütel
—		Tiit Vähi (born 1947) 2nd Prime Minister of the Interim Government	29 January 1992	21 October 1992	266	None	Vähi Interim various coalition partners
									President Lennart Georg Meri (1992–2001)
9		Mart Laar (born 1960) 9th Prime Minister	21 October 1992	8 November 1994	749	Pro Patria (I) Pro Patria National Coalition Party (RKEI)	Laar I I–M–ERSP RKEI–M–ERSP RKEI–M–ERSP–ELDP RKEI–M–ERSP–(ELDP) RKEI–M–ERSP–ELDP	VII (1992)
10		Andres Tarand (born 1940) 10th Prime Minister	8 November 1994	17 April 1995	161	Moderates (M)	Tarand M–RKEI–ERSP–ELDP–VKRE
11		Tiit Vähi (born 1947) 11th Prime Minister (2nd term)	17 April 1995	6 November 1995	701	Coalition Party and Country People's Alliance (KMÜ)	Vähi I KMÜ–KE	VIII (1995)
			6 November 1995	17 March 1997			Vähi II KMÜ–REF KMÜ KMÜ–AP
12		Mart Siimann (born 1946) 12th Prime Minister	17 March 1997	25 March 1999	739	Coalition Party and Country People's Alliance (KMÜ)	Siimann KMÜ–AP
13		Mart Laar (born 1960) 13th Prime Minister (2nd term)	25 March 1999	28 January 2002	1,041	Pro Patria Union (IL)	Laar II IL–M–REF	IX (1999)
									President Arnold Rüütel (2001–2006)
14		Siim Kallas (born 1948) 14th Prime Minister	28 January 2002	10 April 2003	438	Reform Party (REF)	S. Kallas REF–KE
15		Juhan Parts (born 1966) 15th Prime Minister	10 April 2003	12 April 2005	735	Res Publica Party (RES)	Parts RES–REF–RL	X (2003)
16		Andrus Ansip (born 1956) 16th Prime Minister	12 April 2005	5 April 2007	3,271	Reform Party (REF)	Ansip I REF–KE–RL
									President Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2006–2016)
			5 April 2007	6 April 2011			Ansip II REF–IRL–SDE REF–IRL	XI (2007)
			6 April 2011	26 March 2014			Ansip III REF–IRL	XII (2011)
17		Taavi Rõivas (born 1979) 17th Prime Minister	26 March 2014	9 April 2015	973	Reform Party (REF)	Rõivas I REF–SDE
			9 April 2015	23 November 2016			Rõivas II REF–SDE–IRL	XIII (2015)
									President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016–2021)
18		Jüri Ratas (born 1978) 18th Prime Minister	23 November 2016	29 April 2019	1525	Centre Party (KE)	Ratas I KE–SDE–IRL KE–SDE–I
			29 April 2019	26 January 2021			Ratas II KE–EKRE–I	XIV (2019)
19		Kaja Kallas (born 1977) 19th Prime Minister	26 January 2021	14 July 2022	1672	Reform Party (REF)	K. Kallas I REF–KE REF
									President Alar Karis (2021–)
			18 July 2022	17 April 2023			K. Kallas II REF–SDE–I
			17 April 2023	23 July 2024			K. Kallas III REF–E200–SDE	XV (2023)
20		Kristen Michal (born 1975) 20th Prime Minister	23 July 2024	Incumbent	398	Reform Party (REF)	Michal REF–E200–SDE

Timeline of Prime Ministers

See also

In Spanish: Primer ministro de Estonia para niños

• List of heads of government of Estonia
• President of Estonia