Estonia to become the only country in the world with a female president and female prime minister
In the week when the United States of America has gotten its first female vice-president, Estonia will become the only country in the world that has both a female president and female prime minister at the helm.
The other two countries with a female head of state and head of government are New Zealand and Denmark both of which have a queen and a female prime minister.
The new coalition of Estonian government is led by leader of the Reform Party Kaja Kallas, a former member of the Estonian parliament Riigikogu and a former Member of the European Parliament.
Kersti Kaljulaid is the first female President of Estonia since 2016. President Kaljulaid is a champion of the liberal market economy, a relentless global advocate of the digital economy and cyber security.
Female leaders tend to do better during a pandemic
During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, infection rates were lower in female-led countries. Comparing female-led countries such as Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand with their neighbouring nations The Guardian reports that these countries have had fewer infections and deaths. An analysis published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum suggests it’s not a coincidence. COVID-outcomes are systematically better in countries led by women. The analysis sees that to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive and coordinated policy responses adopted by the leaders.
Estonia has coped with the pandemic well, partly due to the building of the digital state over the past 20 years, which has been like a great preparation for dealing with the current crisis that has hit the whole world. The new government is challenged to bring the country out of the pandemic successfully.
During the talks prime-mininister-in-waiting Kallas stated that under her leadership Estonia will continue working on key infrastructure projects such as a railway tunnel that aims to connect Tallinn, Estonia with Helsinki, Finland, creating the new twin city of Talsinki; and Rail Baltica – a high speed railway planned to connect Tallinn with Western Europe.
The coalition has also agreed not to change the corporate income tax system on retained and reinvested profits: companies registered in Estonia can enjoy the benefits of a 0% income tax for all reinvested and retained profits. This also applies to a Estonian branches of internationally owned companies.
Coalition negotiations in Estonia were led by Kaja Kallas and the Center Party’s deputy chairwoman Mailis Reps.
Article by Ronald Liive
Photo by Mattias Tammet, Office of The President of The Republic of Estonia
Original article see here
