Toomas Hendrik Ilves is the new President of Estonia

Toomas Hendrik Ilves has been elected the next President of Estonia. This is great for Estonia, as Arnold Rüütel was a bumbling fool.

Political games were used in a failed attempt by two parties to keep him in place, even though public opinion and more importantly, the majority of the parliament was against him.

As Rüütel's term will end in October 2006. On 7 June 2006, he ended speculation about his possible candidature, saying that he would be a candidate for re-election. [2] Rüütel's candidature has raised some concerns, as he turned 78 in May 2006, and has performed some 'slips' (attributed to his age), such as congratulating people on 'Victory Day' while the event was the Independence Day (February 24, 2005) (Estonians have their Victory Day in June). His declarations and speeches are also regarded as hard to comprehend by the public, and Rüütel's appearances are often later 'deciphered' by his adviser Eero Raun.

In late August, the parliament failed to elect a president. The election of Toomas Hendrik Ilves by the parliament was blocked by Rüütel's supporters, who boycotted the vote (Rüütel said that he would only stand for election if the vote was decided by the electoral college, which occurs only if the parliament fails to elect a president) and thus prevented him from obtaining the necessary two-thirds of votes in parliament. Rüütel was supported by People's Union and Centre Party. Throughout the presidential election campaign, Rüütel was been criticised for not having participated in the Riigikogu round and not taking part in debates.[3] The electoral college met to choose a president on September 23.