National Centre Party (Estonia)
The National Centre Party (Estonian: Rahvuslik Keskerakond, RKE) was a political party in Estonia.
National Centre Party Rahvuslik Keskerakond | |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 1931 |
| Dissolved | 1935 |
| Merger of | Estonian People's Party Christian People's Party |
| Ideology | Centrism Corporatism |
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|---|
| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Estonia |
History
The party was established in October 1931 as the United Nationalists Party by a merger of the Estonian People's Party and the Christian People's Party.[1] In January 1932 the Estonian Labour Party joined the merger, with the party becoming the National Centre Party.[1] In February the Landlords' Party also merged into the party.[1]
Between them the four parties held a combined 26 seats in the Riigikogu.[2] In the 1932 elections the new party won only 23 seats, losing to the Union of Settlers and Smallholders,[3] which had recently been established by a merger of the Farmers' Assemblies party and the Settlers' Party.
Along with all others, the party was banned in 1935 following Konstantin Päts's self-coup.[4]
With the return of democracy, two former RKE members were elected to the Riigikogu in the 1938 elections.[3]
References
- Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p384 ISBN 0-313-23804-9
- Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p586 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- Nohlen & Stöver, p587
- McHale, p371