1990 Estonian Supreme Soviet election

Elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the Estonian SSR on 18 March 1990,[1] the first free parliamentary election in Estonia since 1932. A total of 105 deputies were elected, of which four were from military districts. Altogether 392 candidates ran for seats in the Soviet. The opposition pro-independence Popular Front won the plurality of the seats. The anti-independence "Joint Council of Work Collectives", representing mostly the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia, as well as the reformed communists, who favored independence but close relations with the USSR and were supported by Indrek Toome,[2] who was running under the Free Estonia banner,[3] both gained around 25 seats. During its first session, the new Supreme Soviet elected the former Communist Party member Arnold Rüütel as its chairman, allowing him to stay as the nominal leader of Estonia (real powers mostly lay with the prime minister).

The elected parliament was responsible for some of the most important decisions in the modern Estonian history, such as the declaration of a period of restoring independence from the Soviet Union on 30 March 1990, adopted by a vote of 73 for to 0 against, with 27 MPs boycotting the vote. It also adopted the new Constitution of the Republic of Estonia.

Voting was held on the same day as an election in the Latvian SSR.

Results
Party Votes % Seats
Popular Front43
Communist Party–Free Estonia27
Joint Council of Work Collectives25
Independents10
Invalid/blank votes––
Total911,903100105
Registered voters/turnout1,164,60378.2–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, VVK[4]

See also

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p574 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Payerhin, Marek (2016-09-02). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2016-2017. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 135. ISBN 9781475828979.
  3. Silver, Brian D.; Titma, Mikk (1996). "Support for an Independent Estonia". International Journal of Sociology. 26 (2): 3–24. doi:10.1080/15579336.1996.11770136. JSTOR 20628474.
  4. "Elections and Referendums in Estonia 1989-1999". Estonian National Electoral Committee. 2008-11-17.


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