Estonia's new government sworn in with first-ever female PM

The centre-right Reform Party, chaired by Ms. Kallas, and the left-leaning Centre Party, which are Estonia's two biggest political parties, clinched a deal on Sunday to form a government

January 26, 2021 04:42 pm | Updated 04:42 pm IST - Helsinki

Estonia's new Prime Minister Kaja Kallas takes signs her oath at the Parliament in Tallinn, Estonia January 26, 2021.

Estonia's new Prime Minister Kaja Kallas takes signs her oath at the Parliament in Tallinn, Estonia January 26, 2021.

Estonia's new two-party coalition government has been sworn in with the first female Prime Minister in the Baltic country since it regained independence in 1991.

The 15-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas — a 43-year-old lawyer and a former European Parliament lawmaker — was approved Tuesday in the 101-seat Riigikogu legislature, after President Kersti Kaljulaid had first appointed it.

The centre-right Reform Party, chaired by Ms. Kallas, and the left-leaning Centre Party, which are Estonia's two biggest political parties, clinched a deal on Sunday to form a government replacing the previous Cabinet led by Centre leader Juri Ratas that collapsed this month due to a corruption scandal.

Both parties have seven ministerial portfolios in the Cabinet in addition to Ms. Kallas' Prime Minister post. The government musters a comfortable majority in the Parliament.

The Reform Party emerged as the winner of Estonia's 2019 general election under Ms. Kallas' lead but she failed to form a government at the time.

Ms. Kallas stressed gender balance in forming the new Cabinet, placing several women in key positions such as Reform's Keit Pentus-Rosimannus as finance minister and Eva-Maria Liimets, Estonia's ambassador to the Czech Republic, as the foreign minister.

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