Kaljurand says would give serious consideration to proposal to run

Photo: Sander Ilvest

Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand, whom the Reform Party stripped of its support in the electoral college round of the election of the next Estonian president, said on Wednesday that should a serious proposal be made to her to run in the electoral body she will give serious consideration to it.

«First I should be made a proposal like this. If it is made, I will give it serious consideration, very serious consideration. It will not be an easy decision, but I have no problem deciding, I will make the decision when the time is right,» Kaljurand told the media on Wednesday evening.

She added that the board of the Reform Party has made its decision and at present she bases her actions on that decision. «Today Taavi Roivas explained the reasons behind the decision of the Reform Party board and I laid out my position,» Kaljurand said, adding that she continues doing her work as foreign minister.

As Kaljurand said, public support matters very much to her, as well as the meetings that she has had lately with municipal government leaders and ordinary citizens.

The leader of the Reform Party, Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, said earlier on Wednesday that although the decision of the party's board to support Siim Kallas as the party's presidential candidate may have caused pain to Marina Kaljurand, it was the only option for the board because the party cannot go before the electoral college with two presidential candidates.

Roivas said that at his meeting with Kaljurand in the afternoon he explained to the foreign minister the reasons that made the board of the party arrive at the decision on Tuesday night to throw their weight behind Kallas.

«It definitely wasn't a popularity vote in the board,» Roivas said, adding that supporting Kallas was the only right thing to do for the party and Kaljurand should not take it personally.

Roivas added that of course decisions like this are difficult emotionally, especially for those with regard to whom they are made. «I understand that it was not a good decision for Marina, but it had to be made,» he said.