Page "Politics of Estonia" Paragraph 2

The contemporary Estonian government follows the principles of separation of powers and its people elect a 101-member Riigikogu every four years.

Only Estonian citizens may participate in parliamentary elections.

Estonia uses a voting system based on proportional representation.

A party must exceed a national threshold of 5 % of all votes to gain entry to the parliament.

The Parliament elects a President, who can be in office for a five year period for a maximum of two terms in succession.

As a rule, the president asks the party leader who has collected the most votes to form the new government, who then must gain the approval of Riigikogu.

The parliament also appoints the president of the Bank of Estonia, the Chief of the Headquarters of the Estonian Defense, the Comptroller General of Estonia, the Chancellor of Justice of Estonia and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia, all on the proposal of the President of Estonia.