Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica
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| Leadership | Tõnis Lukas, Taavi Veskimägi |
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| Founded | 4 June 2006 |
| Political Ideology | Christian democracy, Conservatism, Liberal conservatism, National conservatism |
| International Affiliation | Christian Democrat International, International Democrat Union |
| European Affiliation | European People's Party, European Democrat Union |
| Euro. Parliament Group | EPP-ED |
| Colours | Blue |
| Headquarters | |
| Website | www.isamaajarespublicaliit.ee |
| Politics of Estonia Political parties in Estonia Elections in Estonia |
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Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (in Estonian: Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit) is an Estonian political party. It was founded on 4 June 2006 when two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publica merged. Up to the 2007 parliamentary elections, the party held 32 seats out of 101 in the Riigikogu (the Estonian parliament) and one seat in the European Parliament. It has about 8,500 members. The merged party currently consists of two separate boards and two party leaders, which will be replaced by a unified board and leader in May 2007. Party's prime minister candidate is Mart Laar.
[edit] Pre-foundation
Prior to the merger, there was an extreme drop in public support for Res Publica after the government led by Juhan Parts was forced to step down, and Pro Patria had also been relatively marginalized after the fall of their own governing coalition. There was also concern among conservatives about splitting the vote between two parties with largely similar ideologies and being unable to oppose the much more cohesive left wing electorate, which was mostly rallied behind the Centre Party. On 4 April, 2006, representatives from the Pro Patria Union and Res Publica decided to merge the two parties, which took place officially on 4 June, 2006. Although originally the name For Estonia (Eesti Eest) was considered for the newly formed party, it was rejected and the provisional name has been used to date.
On 15 November 2006 the parties were officially joined as Party Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (Erakond Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit).
[edit] 2007 parliamentary election results
The results of the 2007 parliamentary elections were not good for the party. The united party received 98,209 votes (17.9% of the total), a drop of –14.0%. As a result, it will have only 19 seats in the Riigikogu, a loss of 16, but still the third largest block in Parliament. Some analysts, however, pointed out that this was a stronger showing than expected for the new union, and there is a possibility that the Reform Party might enter into a coalition with it instead of the Center Party. Article about the elections.
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| Political Parties in Estonia | |
|---|---|
| Represented in the Riigikogu: |
Reform (31) | Centre (29) | Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (19) | Social Democratic (10) | Greens (6) | People's Union (6) |
| Represented in the European Parliament: |
Social Democratic (3) | Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (1) | Centre (1) | Reform (1) |
| Other parties: |
Christian Democrats | Independence | Left | Constitution | Russian Party in Estonia |
| Historical parties: |
People's Party of Republicans and Conservatives | Pro Patria | Res Publica | Estonian Coalition Party | Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party |
