Paul
Goble
Staunton, October 7 – Under the
Estonian constitution, that country’s president has few enumerated powers, but
he or now she does have the power of words and thus the power to help shape the
understanding not only of the residents of that Baltic country but of the
Western world of which it is very much a part.
In her open letter a week ago “to
all the residents of Estonia,” Kersti Kaljulaid both by the title she chose to
address the country prior to her election in the third round of voting and by
the points she made in it demonstrated that following her inauguration on
Monday, she will continue the tradition of Lennart Meri and Toomas Hendrik
Ilves even as she chooses her own words.
(Her letter, published in Tallinn’s Eesti Paevaleht is available in Estonian
at epl.delfi.ee/news/eesti/minu-kiri-koigile-eestimaa-inimestele?id=75766473
and in a Russian translation at rus.delfi.ee/daily/estonia/kersti-kalyulajd-moe-pismo-vsem-zhitelyam-estonii?id=75770009.)
Few countries have succeeded in
boxing above their weight class more than Estonia and in large measure because
first Lennart Meri and then Toomas Hendrik Ilves understood the power of words
to shape how Estonians see the world and how the world sees Estonia and its
place on the map.
The two of them, the first a remarkable
novelist and filmmaker before becoming foreign minister and then president and
the second an equally remarkable journalist and writer before becoming Estonian
ambassador to Washington and then foreign minister, were so successful that
many worried that no one could do what they did.
From her open letter, it appears
that Kaljulaid herself was among them, given that she expressed her worry that
the election process hadn’t resulted in the choice of one of the party
candidates but had led to her selection, a non-party person who has worked as
an EU official for the last dozen years.
In her letter, she commented that by
the nature of things, she was convinced that anyone elevated to the office of
president in the way that she was would in the nature of things have “meager”
authority and that there was a real risk that the individual chosen this way
would be like “a porcelain statuette on the mantel,” attractive enough but not
that important.
On the strength of her words and
words about words, neither she nor anyone else need to worry that that will be
her fate.
Perhaps most significantly,
Kaljulaid addressed her letter to “the residents of Estonia” and not just to
Estonians or Estonian citizens; and she signed it with the familiar “thou”
rather than the more moral “you,” both of which will be read by Estonian
citizens and non-citizens alike as heralding a new day.
But she made several other important
remarks that should be noted. She said that the election process, although
protracted, was not a government crisis but rather represented “a step forward”
because in the end if forced the various sides involved to “speak with one
another,” a process Kirjulaid indicated she would like to continue.
“What can a president do?” she asked
rhetorically. His or her role is described in the constitution, and it is quite
limited under most conditions, “but the president always has the power of his
words about which the Constitution doesn’t speak.” He or she can’t propose a
solution for “every problem of Estonia but can help structure the discussion
about each.
Kaljulaid reiterated her view that “the
cornerstone of a strong democracy consists of citizens who are confident in
themselves and an ethical state.” The latter is a state that helps those who
need it without getting in the way of those who do not and among those who need
it are children, the ill, and the elderly.
After Estonia recovered its
independence, Estonians sought to build a state that was as lean as possible,
she continued. “The countries of Western Europe have now caught up with us: too
large expenditures on state services is a problem almost everywhere. We however
hve already entered a new era,” and “our state must be a state of civic unions.”
“The easy part has ended,” she said.
“We are in the trap of a middle income country.” Now, we need to move forward, and
in this “the role of the president in Estonia is very important.” Estonians need to know their president, and
the world needs to know Estonia even better than it does.
Her immediate predecessor Toomas
Hendrik Ilves did “brilliant” work in this direction, Kirjulaid says. Indeed,
he set “a very high standard” which she pledges to uphold. “Obviously, the boots remaining in Kadriorg
Palace,” the presidential residence, “are too big;” and Kaljulaid pledged that
she would find her own. Its already
clear that she is on the way to doing so.
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