Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 2 March 2003. The newly elected 101 members of the 10th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Two opposing parties won the most seats, with both the Centre Party and Res Publica Party winning 28 seats in the Riigikogu. Res Publica was able to gain enough support in negotiations after the elections to form a coalition government. Background Before the elections the government of Estonia was a coalition of the centre-right Estonian Reform Party and the more left-wing Centre Party, with Siim Kallas from the Reform Party of Estonia as prime minister. On 26 November 2002 the President of Estonia, Arnold Rüütel, set 2 March 2003 as the election date. 947 candidates from 11 political parties contested the election as well as 16 independents. Campaign Opinion polls showed the Centre Party led by the mayor of Tallinn, Edgar Savisaar, with a small lead in the run up to the election. They were expected to gain support from among those who had not benefited from the rapid economic reforms that had taken place over the last decade. However their populism and their lack of a clear policy on whether Estonia should join the European Union meant they were likely to struggle to form a coalition after the election. The leading critics of the Centre Party were from the new conservative Res Publica Party, which had only been formed in 2002. Res Publica's campaign focused on the need to address crime and corruption and they portrayed themselves as being a change to the older political parties. Res Publica had performed strongly in the 2002 local elections after being formed from the youth wings of some of the other right wing political parties. A leading issue in the election was the tax system with the Centre Party pledging to scrap the flat tax and change it to a progressive tax system. Both Res Publica and the Reform Party opposed this, with the Reform Party calling for the tax rate to be cut significantly. The personalities of the various party leaders were also a significant part of the campaign, with opponents particularly attacked the Centre Party leader Edgar Savisaar. Savisaar had quit as interior minister in 1995 after being accused of taping rival politicians and during the campaign the media raised questions over the financing of his campaign. Results The