Russian Party in Estonia

Defunct political party in Estonia
Politics of Estonia
  • President
    Alar Karis
Executive
Legislature
  • Riigikogu
    Speaker: Lauri Hussar
Judiciary
Elections
  • flag Estonia portal
  • v
  • t
  • e

The Russian Party in Estonia (Estonian: Vene Erakond Eestis, VEE; Russian: Русская партия Эстонии) was a minor political party in Estonia.

History

The party was originally established as the Russian National Union (Estonian: Vene Rahvuslik Liit; Russian: Русский национальный союз), a right-of-centre party, in 1920.[1] It received 1% of the national vote in the parliamentary elections that year,[2] winning a single seat in the Riigikogu.[3]

After Estonia regained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Party of Estonia was established in 1994 as the legal successor to the Russian National Union.[4] For the 1995 elections the party formed the "Our Home is Estonia" alliance with the Estonian United People's Party.[5] The alliance won six seats.

The party ran alone in the 1999 elections, receiving 2% of the vote but failing to win a seat.[6][7] The 2003 elections saw the party's vote share fall to just 0.2% as it remained without representation in the Riigikogu. It received 0.2% of the vote again in the 2007 elections and 0.9% in the 2011 elections, failing to win a seat on either occasion.

In 2012 the party merged into the Social Democratic Party.[8]

Election results

Riigikogu

Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
1920 8,623 1.8 (#9)
1 / 100
Opposition
1995 31,763 5.87 (#6)
6 / 101
Opposition
1999 9,825 2.03 (#9)
0 / 101
Decrease 6 Extraparliamentary
2003 990 0.20 (#11)
0 / 101
Steady Extraparliamentary
2007 1,084 0.20 (#10)
0 / 101
Steady Extraparliamentary
2011 5,029 0.87 (#7)
0 / 101
Steady Extraparliamentary

References

  1. ^ David James Smith, John Hiden (2012) Ethnic Diversity and the Nation State: National Cultural Autonomy Revisited, Routledge, p64
  2. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p582 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p586
  4. ^ Janusz Bugajski (2002) Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, M.E. Sharpe, p78
  5. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p579
  6. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p585
  7. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p587
  8. ^ Social Dems Seal Merger with Russian Party Social Democratic Party
  • v
  • t
  • e
Riigikogu
European Parliament
Other parties
Historical parties
(1905–1940)
Historical parties
(since 1988)