Election Results
The results saw the Centre Party win the most votes but they were only 0.8% ahead of the new Res Publica party. As a result both parties won 28 seats, which was a disappointment for the Centre Party who had expected to win the most seats. Altogether the right of centre parties won 60 seats, compared to only 41 for the left wing, and so were expected to form the next government. Voter turnout was higher than expected at 58%.
However both the Centre and Res Publica parties said that they should get the chance to try and form the next government, while ruling out any deal between themselves. President Rüütel had to decide who he should nominate as Prime Minister and therefore be given the first chance at forming a government. On the 2 April he invited the leader of the Res Publica party, Juhan Parts to form a government and after negotiations a coalition government composed of Res Publica, the Reform Party and the People's Union of Estonia was formed on the 10 April.
| Party | Ideology | Votes | % | swing | MPs | % of MPs | % of MPs swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonian Centre Party |
Social liberalism, Populism |
125,709 | 25.4% | 2.0% | 28 | 27.7% | — |
| Union for the Repubic - Res Publica |
Conservatism | 121,856 | 24.6% | 24.6% | 28 | 27.7% | 27.7% |
| Estonian Reform Party |
Classical liberalism | 87,551 | 17.7% | 1.8% | 19 | 18.8% | 1.0% |
| People's Union of Estonia |
Agrarianism | 64,463 | 13.0% | 5.8% | 13 | 12.9% | 5.9% |
| Party Fatherland Union |
Conservatism | 36,169 | 7.3% | 8.8% | 7 | 6.9% | 10.9% |
| People's Party Moderates |
Social democracy | 34,837 | 7.0% | 8.2% | 6 | 5.9% | 10.9% |
| Estonian United People's Party |
Minority interests, democratic socialism |
11,113 | 2.2% | 3.9% | — | — | 5.9% |
| Estonian Christian People's Party |
Christian democracy | 5,275 | 1.1% | 1.4% | — | — | — |
| Estonian Independence Party |
Nationalism, euroscepticism |
2,705 | 0.5% | 0.5% | — | — | — |
| Estonian Social Democratic Labour Party |
Democratic socialism | 2,059 | 0.4% | 0.4% | — | — | — |
| Russian Party in Estonia |
Minority interests | 990 | 0.2% | 1.8% | — | — | — |
| Independents | 2,161 | 0.4% | 1.0% | — | — | — | |
| Total valid votes | 494,888 | 100.0% | 101 | ||||
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