Estonia Parliament FDC

Estonia FDC
Name: The 90th Anniversary of Republic of Estonia Parliament, Riigikogu
Date of Issue: 23 April 2009

The Republic of Estonia was born on 24 February 1918 and the next year the people elected the forerunner of the country's parliament, the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly had its first session on April 23, the day on which the anniversary of the parliament is marked today. It laid a legal foundation to Estonian statehood. On May 1919 a declaration of Estonia's national independence was passed and on 15 June 1920 it endorsed the first Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. From 23 April 1919 to 20 December 1920 the Constituent Assembly held 170 sessions during five periods and passed more than 800 legal acts. The Constituent Assembly had unlimited authority; it appointed governments, received their resignations, endorsed the state budget and decided issues of war and peace. According to the Constitution of 1920 Estonia was a democratic parliamentary republic. Supreme power was vested in the people and it could exercise its will through parliamentary elections, referendums and the right of popular initiative. On 20 December 1920 the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and it passed on its credentials to the parliament, called Riigikogu (State Assembly).