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Estonian Reform Party elects new chairman

Xinhua, January 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Estonian Reform Party has elected Hanno Pevkur as its new chairman to replace Taavi Roivas who resigned after losing a no confidence vote in parliament late last year.

Hanno Pevkur, who was deputy chairman of the party and former Estonian interior minister, was elected at the Reform Party congress held on Saturday, winning 1,048 votes, against 635 votes for rival candidate Kristen Michal, head of the party's parliamentary group and former minister of economic affairs and infrastructure, the party said in a press release.

The congress of Estonia's largest opposition party also elected its 14-member leadership group including former European Union commissioner and honorary chairman of the Reform Party Siim Kallas, who wasn't present at the assembly as he is recovering from heart surgery he had to undergo earlier the week.

In December, Roivas, Estonian former prime minister and leader of the Reform Party, announced his resignation as chairman of the party at the beginning of the new year.

Roivas, who had been chairman of the Reform Party since spring 2014, lost a no confidence vote by the Estonian parliament on Nov. 9.

The Estonian new coalition government of Prime Minister Juri Ratas's Center Party, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, and the Social Democratic Party took office on Nov. 23 at the Estonian parliament. Endit