The council of elders of the Estonian parliament sees Kersti Kaljulaid as presidential candidate.
Parlt party leaders see Kersti Kaljulaid as presidential candidate
27th September 2016, 18:06
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Chairman of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor on Tuesday afternoon introduced Kaljulaid to the council of elders and the council proposed to Kaljulaid running for president of the republic.
Kersti Kaljulaid is to start meeting with parties' parliamentary groups on Wednesday.
Kaljulaid asked the media to give her time to meet with members of parliamentary groups. She said that running for president is a great responsibility which she decided to accept when she felt the support of all six parliamentary groups on Tuesday.
Chairman of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor said that Kaljulaid has enough support in the parliament and on Oct. 3 Estonia will get a new president.
Kaljulaid was born in 1969 in Tartu. She has a degree in biology as well as a degree in business management from the University of Tartu. Kaljulaid has worked in Hansapank Markets and in 1999 became the economic adviser of Prime Minister Mart Laar. She has also worked as head of the Iru power plant of the state-owned energy company Eesti Energia.
As of May 2004 Kaljulaid has been the Estonian auditor in the European Court of Auditors, but her term of office ended in the spring. The government has so far been unable to agree on who will become Estonia's next auditor in the European Court of Auditors.
Kaljulaid has also been a member of the supervisory board of the Estonian Genome Center and a member of the board of governors of the University of Tartu. As of 2012 she is the chairman of the council of the University of Tartu. She was a member of the Pro Patria Union in 2001-2004.