Estonia's parliament elects country's first female president
BNC
2016-10-03
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The Estonian parliament on Monday (October 3) elected the country's first female head of state.
Kersti Kaljulaid, 46, a former EU budget auditor, received 81 votes in the election for the five-year presidential term, well above the two-thirds majority of 68 required.
"I was not surprised by the result," she told reporters after addressing the Estonian parliament.
"I'm only just returning from high European office so my first task is to go and talk to Estonian people all around the country," she added.
The office is largely symbolic in the Baltic country although it gained weight after outgoing President Toomas Hendrik Ilves carved a role as an outspoken critic of Russia and a campaigner for government digitalisation and cybersecurity.
Kersti Kaljulaid, 46, a former EU budget auditor, received 81 votes in the election for the five-year presidential term, well above the two-thirds majority of 68 required.
"I was not surprised by the result," she told reporters after addressing the Estonian parliament.
"I'm only just returning from high European office so my first task is to go and talk to Estonian people all around the country," she added.
The office is largely symbolic in the Baltic country although it gained weight after outgoing President Toomas Hendrik Ilves carved a role as an outspoken critic of Russia and a campaigner for government digitalisation and cybersecurity.
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