Run-off predicted in Estonian vote
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Your support makes all the difference.TALLINN - The chairman of the Estonian parliament, Arnold Ruutel, held a wide lead in the newly independent country's first national elections yesterday, but he appeared to be falling short of the majority needed to prevent a presidential run-off.
Mr Ruutel needed to win at least half the votes to avoid throwing the presidential race back into parliament, which, it was predicted, would favour Mr Ruutel's main opponent, the flamboyant former foreign minister, Lennart Meri. Controversy surrounds Mr Meri, whose father is alleged to have worked as a Soviet spy.
The republic's large, Russian-speaking minority was barred from the elections, a move which one senior Moscow official said was in violation of international law. Nikolai Medvedev, Moscow's official in charge of monitoring relations between the two states, said that 42 per cent of the population could not vote and that this 'in no way fits into the framework of international law'.
With more than half the votes counted, Mr Ruutel had 43.1 per cent compared with 29.5 per cent for Mr Meri. In third place was Rein Taagepera, a candidate supported by the Popular Front, with 23.5 per cent.
Most voters presented their old red Soviet passports as proof of identity, since the majority of Estonians have yet to receive new ones. Many said they were concerned about the economy, struggling to adapt to the free market after decades of state control.
Officials said about 660,000 Estonian citizens - defined as pre- war Estonian nationals and their direct descendants - could vote. Jaan Manitski, the Foreign Minister, said that the polls were 'definitely' fair and democratic.
Non-Estonians can apply for citizenship but need to prove two years' residence and at least a basic knowledge of Estonian as well as pledge loyalty to the republic.
The citizenship controversy has further strained relations between the Russia and Estonia, already complicated by a dispute over where the border should lie. Several Russians in Tallinn seemed more indifferent than angry at being unable to vote.
The low-key election campaign burst into life last week with charges that Mr Meri's father had worked as a Soviet spy. A team of independent experts said they were convinced that documents published in the press identifying Georg Meri as a secret police agent with the code name 'Obnovlyonny (Renewed)' were genuine.
His son, a former foreign minister, denied the charges and suggested they were invented by die-hard Communists.
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