Estonian Center Party

Extract

In General

The Estonian Center Party was founded in Tallinn on October 12, 1991, shortly after Estonia had regained its independence. The formation of political parties had begun in the country in 1988, and the Estonian Center Party, along with the Estonian Coalition Party and some other influential political forces, sprung up in the so-called second party-building wave. The main core of the party Board (11 members) and most of the rank-and-file members have come to politics via the Estonian Popular Front, and, accordingly, they have taken with them their experience and built their political credo on the programmatic views of the Popular Front. The party defines itself as a center force on the Estonian political scene. (The distribution of political forces does not yet correspond to that common in Western countries.)