TALLINN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Henn Polluaas of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia was elected President of the 14th Estonian parliament Riigikogu on Thursday.
The election of the Estonian parliament board was held at the opening sitting to choose the president and two vice presidents of the parliament.
The 59-year-old Polluaas won 55 of 100 votes cast out of the total 101 parliament members with one absent from the inaugural sitting, while opponent Sven Mikser of the Estonian Scocial Democratic Party got 45 votes.
Helir-Valdor Seeder of the Isamaa Party and Siim Kallas of the Reform Party were elected first and second vice-president with 55 and 44 votes respectively, with one blank and thus invalid ballot.
The Board is elected from the members of the Riigikogu for a term of one year. The president of the Riigikogu is the second most important official in the country after the president of Estonia, and can temporarily fulfill the duties of the president of the Republic, if necessary.
Delivering the opening speech at the Riigikogu, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid stressed the importance of thinking how to make the 30 years of economic development in Estonia serve the interests of the people in a way that everyone would feel as they have benefitted from it.
In the parliamentary election held on March 3, five political parties were elected to the 14th Estonian parliament for a term of four years, with Reform's 34 seats, followed by Center's 26 and Conservative People's Party's 19, Isamaa Party's 12 and Social Democratic Party's 10 seats.
