The Christian People's Party (, KRE) was a political party in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

between 1919 and 1931.

History

The party had its roots in the campaign for the 1918 Constituent Assembly elections, which was contested by a group known as the "Independent Christians".Vincent E. McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p374 The Christian Democratic Party (''Kristlik Demokraatlik Partei'', KDP) was established the following year by the Independent Christians and some defectors from the

Estonian People's Party The Estonian People's Party (, ER) was a centre-right political party in Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the w ...

. The new party won five seats in the Constituent Assembly elections that year.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p581 The KDP went on to win seven seats in the 1920 elections, and joined Konstantin Päts' Farmers' Assemblies-led the government on 5 January 1921, being given the Education ministry post. However, the following year it caused a split in the government by introducing a bill to provide religious education in state schools, funded by the state. Although the proposal was rejected by the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

, the party forced a referendum on the issue in early 1923, which resulted in a "yes" vote. As this was considered to be a vote of confidence on the rest of the government, the Riigikogu was subsequently dissolved and fresh elections called. In the 1923 elections the party won eight seats, and were part of a minority government headed by its leader Friedrich Akel between March and December 1924. Prior to the 1926 elections the party was renamed as the Christian People's Party, but was reduced to five seats. It later suffered a further reduction to four seats in the 1929 elections. In October 1931, the party merged with the Estonian People's Party to form the United Nationalists Party. The following year the Estonian Labour Party joined the merged party, which became the National Centre Party.McHale, p384

References

{{Authority control 1919 establishments in Estonia 1931 disestablishments in Estonia Conservative parties in Estonia Defunct Christian political parties Defunct political parties in Estonia Political parties disestablished in 1931 Political parties established in 1919