Yesterday, Estonia held its national parliamentary election. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip’s Reform Party increased its position from 19 to 31 seats in the 101-seat parliament, while their coalition partner in the previous government, the Centre Party, gained one seat to move to 29. The Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica holds 19 seats, the Social Democrats hold 10, and the Greens and the People’s Union of Estonia each hold 6 (the agrarianist People’s Union was the third coalition party in the previous government).

This is a remarkable gain for the liberty-oriented Reform Party, although it does not provide enough seats to form a coalition with only Pro Patria, a party more aligned with Reform than the left-leaning Centre Party is. It was Pro Patria’s Mart Laar who, before the union with Res Publica, implemented numerous market reforms largely influenced by Milton Friedman, and helped transform the former Soviet Republic into a rapidly growing Baltic Tiger. Thus, Ansip could form a coalition with Pro Patria and one other party — none is significantly libertarian — or continue the partnership with the Centre Party alone. It is unlikely that a Reform/Centre coalition would invite any other party.

The election comes at a time when Estonia is nearing entry into the Eurozone and when their relations with Russia are still simmering. Reuters notes in their story: “The tensions were sparked when parliament voted to remove a statue of a Red Army soldier from the center of the capital Tallinn because it was a reminder of 50 years of Soviet rule.”

Also of some interest, this was the first national election anywhere in the world to make use of Internet voting.

In summary, Estonia has made rapid advances since regaining independence, and with this election appears to continue in its desire to lead a path of freedom, at the forefront not just of the Baltics but throughout Europe and beyond. Their example has cleanly illustrated the links between minimal restrictions of individual liberties and an open, prosperous society.