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President of the Republic At the reception in Kadriorg Palace October 29, 200129.10.2001
Dear friends and colleagues,
I have invited you here today in order to express my hearfelt thanks to all the people who supported my candidacy for the office of the President of the republic of Estonia. I would also like to thank my competitors for fair game which is a sign of the maturing of Estonian political culture.
Since I was elected as the presidential candidate of the People's Union of Estonia one should recognize the special contribution of this party. The presidential elections were after the Riigikogu elections the second serious test for this political force that the three founding parties had made into the biggest party in Estonia. And they passed the test - cum laude, using the academic manner of speaking.
But it is customary in the democratic society that after elections the candidate of one party will become the president of the whole nation. Please allow me to reiterate what I said on October 8 in Riigikogu: there cannot be several Estonias for the President of the Republic of Estonia. The presidential institution is exceptional because everything that happens in the society and the state has to matter to him. Of course it does not mean interfering in the authority of different power levels. It does, however, mean that one must make sure that the power levels act in the interests of the whole nation and state and that the principle of the separation and balance of powers is guaranteed.
After a week and a half I will have held for a month the honourable and highly responsible office of the President of the Republic of Estonia. During this time there are two issues that have found confirmation. It is pleasant that we stand united and ready to continue with the development and the directions that have been chosen. On the other hand one has found further proof to the fact that the Estonian society is in a slant. Group interests and preferences tend to overshadow both the inter-party dialogue as well as the media. Hence it may seem unusual to many a people that differences of opinion interfere with mutual respect.
This is why greeting you all here today we hope that the feeling of dignity that we respect in ourselves will also extend to political dialogue, to communications with the general public and to our duties and responsibilities.
Thank you once again!
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