President of Estonia

President of the Republic of Estonia Eesti Vabariigi President
The Flag of the President
Incumbent Kersti Kaljulaid since 10 October 2016
Residence	Kadriorg Palace Tallinn
Appointer	Riigikogu Rounds I-III Electoral body Round IV-V Riigikogu Round VI
Term length	Five years renewable once, consecutively
Inaugural holder	Konstantin Päts 24 April 1938
Formation	Constitution of Estonia
Salary	€72,723
Website	www.president.ee

The President of the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia.

Estonia is a parliamentary republic in which the President is a ceremonial figurehead with no executive power. The President is obliged to suspend their membership in any political party for the term in office. Upon assuming office, the authority and duties of the President in all other elected or appointed offices terminate automatically. These measures should theoretically help the President to function in a more independent and impartial manner.

The President is elected by the Riigikogu or a special electoral body for a five-year term. The electoral body is convened in case no candidate secures a two-thirds supermajority in the Riigikogu after three rounds of balloting. The electoral body, which consists of all members of the Riigikogu and elected representatives of all local self-governments (at least one representative per each municipality, but not more than 10 representatives depending on the number of citizens with voting rights residing in the municipality), elects the president, choosing between the two candidates with the largest percentage of votes.

The President holds office for five years. They can be reelected any number of times, but not more than twice consecutively.

The current President is Kersti Kaljulaid, elected by Parliament on 3 October 2016, becoming the first woman and youngest person ever to hold the position.

The authors of the first Estonian constitution, with memories of the Russian emperors' abuses of power, tried to avoid concentrating too much power in one person's hands by all means possible. This eventually led to a creation of an ultra-parliamentary system. The power of the Parliament (Riigikogu) was practically unlimited. Until 1934, the nominal head of state was the State Elder, (riigivanem), who also served as de jure chairman of the cabinet—officially known as "the Government." However, he could not play a balancing role in the event of conflict between the Parliament and the Government. The State Elder and the Government were completely dependent on the Parliament and could be sacked by it at any time. The functions that are usually vested on a president in parliamentary systems were divided among the speaker of the Riigikogu, the State Elder and the Government.