Estonian minorities deprived of political power

The Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, has 101 seats. The seats held by ethnic minorities adds up to less than ten percent, a huge misrepresentation of the demography of the population.

The main factor for the misrepresentation is the high percentage of ethnic minorities that don't have Estonian citizenship and therefore aren't entitled to vote. For example, among Russians who adds up to the largest part of the minorities, only 40 percent have Estonian citizenship.

Since there are fewer Russian voters, the political parties have been less eager to promote questions that are important for the ethnic minorities. One example is the question of the Russian-language high-school reform. For years the Estonian government has promised to introduce more teaching in Estonian, but since there are few Estonians willing to teach in these schools and the issue is low on the political agenda, the progress of the reform has been slow.

The low percentage of Russian voters also means that it is harder to run as a Russian candidate. Russian parties have been extremely weak since the independence from the Soviet Union and in 2003 elections, they failed to get into Parliament. The elections in 2006 is not likely to change the situation.