The parliament has been unable to elect the president of Estonia for the next five years as none of the two candidates in Tuesday's runoff received the 68 votes necessary to get elected.
Estonian parlt fails to elect president
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The task of electing the head of state will now pass on to an electoral college made up of all 101 members of the parliament and 234 representatives of local government councils.
In the runoff, Siim Kallas, European Commission vice president from 2004-2014, received 42 votes and Mailis Reps, deputy chairman of the opposition Center Party group in parliament, 26 votes. There were 30 ballots with no box checked.
In the second balloting round in the parliament held at noon on Tuesday, the number of votes cast for Kallas was 45 and the number of votes cast for Reps 32. Former Chancellor of Justice Allar Joks, the third candidate in the second round of the presidential election, finished third with 21 votes. There was one ballot with no field checked.
In the first round of presidential election in the Riigikogu on Monday, Allar Joks received 25 votes, Eiki Nestor, speaker of the parliament, 40 votes, and Mailis Reps 26 votes. There were eight ballots with no boxes checked in that vote.
Under law, the speaker of the Riigikogu must now convene an electoral body consisting of 101 MPs and 234 representatives of local government councils to elect the president.