Estonia's governing Reform Party wins national election

PanARMENIAN.Net - Estonia's governing Reform Party won a national election on Sunday, March 1, BBC News reports.

Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, whose party has 30 seats, is set to form a coalition in the 101-member parliament. "The Reform Party is the 2015 winner of the parliamentary elections," Roivas declared on the ETV public television station.

Roivas' party claimed 27.7% with most of the votes counted, down from 28.6% at the last parliamentary elections in 2011.

The pro-Russian Centre Party took 24.8% of the votes, winning one more seat to take them to 27 in total.

The Social Democrats, who have been Reform's coalition partner, now hold 15 seats after losing four while the IRL party lost nine seats to take them to 14.

Analysts said Reform could face some difficulty in forming a new coalition, with parliament now split between six parties rather than the previous four. The two newcomers - a free-market liberal party and an anti-immigration conservative party - won 15 seats between them.

Asked whether he would contemplate forming a coalition with the Centre Party, Roivas said "definitely not".

In the run up to the election, Roivas had called for an "Estonian-minded government". At 35, he is the youngest prime minister in Europe.