ESTONIANS WANT DIRECT ELECTION OF MORE POWERFUL PRESIDENT
Published:
4 November 2003 y., Tuesday
Approximately 85 percent of the population favors the direct election of the president, with 11 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided, BNS reported on 31 October, citing a poll conducted in early October by the EMOR research company.
Most of those polled also said they believe the president should have greater powers. Nearly half of the poll's respondents were unable to name a suitable presidential candidate, but the leading choices were President Arnold Ruutel (16 percent), Reform Party Chairman Siim Kallas (8 percent), parliament speaker Toomas Savi (5 percent), and Center Party Chairman Edgar Savisaar (4 percent).
A bill calling for direct presidential elections passed its first reading in September with 71 of the 101 parliament deputies voting in favor. The second reading is scheduled for January. The ruling coalition has also suggested that a referendum on amending the constitution to allow direct presidential elections in 2006 should be held on 13 June 2004 simultaneously with the Europarliament elections.
Šaltinis:
rferl.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Getting on their glad rags, pensioners in the India capital New Delhi stepped out on to the to strut their stuff.
more »
Attempt to reach agreement over the working time directive - which limits workers to 48 hours including overtime - broke down late Monday night (27 April) as MEPs and EU Ministers failed to agree.
more »
She has only been on the job for 100 days, but First Lady Michelle Obama has managed to dazzle the public.
more »
Across Europe the amount of time new mums can have off after the birth of their child varies from 14 to 52 weeks.
more »
The note was written by prisoners at the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp during World War Two and stuffed into a bottle.
more »
Spectators at a Kentucky race course were left shocked after an horrific crash involving a rider-less horse.
more »
As a family in Mexico mourned the death of the latest suspected victim of the swine flu, the deadly virus pushed its way into New Zealand and Israel.
more »
For the seventh time in a row spring will not be only a season of blossoming flowers but also a time when students all over the world can get to know more about the European Union.
more »
Traditional Hungarian herdsmen don the clothes of an age gone by as they mark the start of the summer season by parading their flocks.
more »
The jobless rate is rising faster among the young, underscoring the need for a new long-term strategy to address their plight.
more »