Raimond Kaljulaid
Raimond Kaljulaid in Riigikogu
Foto: Ave Maria Mõistlik, 23. April 2022
Member of the Riigikogu
Assumed office
30 March 2019
Personal details
Born (1982-01-27) 27 January 1982
Tallinn, Estonia
Political partySocial Democratic Party (2019–present)
Other political
affiliations		Centre Party (2001–2019)
Spouse(s)
Olga Makina
​
​
(m. 2008; div. 2016)​

Jane Palm
​
(m. 2019)​
RelativesKersti Kaljulaid (half-sister)
EducationSecondary education[1]

Raimond Kaljulaid (born 27 January 1982)[2] is an Estonian politician and a member of the Estonian Parliament since 2019. Kaljulaid was elected in the list of Centre Party, but quit the party in protest of Centre Party's decision to form a coalition cabinet with the Conservative People's Party,[3] and joined the Social Democratic Party in November 2019.

Career

Kaljulaid began his political career in 2002 as a public relations advisor of Edgar Savisaar, the then Mayor of Tallinn and father of his partner at the time Maria.[4] He left the position in 2004 and went on to create his own marketing and public relations company which became the main organiser of Centre party's election campaigns for the next 15 years.[5]

In March 2016 Kaljulaid was appointed to the post of Elder of Põhja-Tallinn district of Tallinn.[6] He was suspected in abetting embezzlement in connection to the corruption probe into Center Party Chairman Edgar Savisaar, but the Prosecutor General dropped the charges due to lack of public interest in the proceedings with Kaljulaid agreeing to pay 1,000 euros into state budget and 800 euros to cover the cost of an expert opinion.[7]

In 2016 Kaljulaid was elected to the board of directors of the Center Party.[8] Strong performance in 2016 local elections[9] was followed by success in the 2019 Estonian parliamentary election landing him in the Riigikogu.[10]

Kaljulaid opposed the party's coalition with the right wing Conservative People's Party and quit the party in protest.[3]

Kaljulaid ran independently in the European Parliament elections in 2019. He gained 20,640 votes but was not elected.[11]

On 7 November 2019, Kaljulaid joined the Estonian Social Democratic Party.[12]

Personal life

In 2008, Kaljulaid married Estonian photographer Olga Makina. They divorced in 2016.[13] In June 2019 Kaljulaid announced his marriage to Jane Palm.[14]

Kaljulaid is the paternal half-brother of the former President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid (born 1969). He has said that although knowing each of other's existence, they were not close nor spent time together in their childhoods.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Candidate No. 924 RAIMOND KALJULAID". valimised.ee. Estonian Electoral Office. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Business Registry Search
  3. 1 2 "Raimond Kaljulaid quits Centre Party". ERR. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "Savisaar sokutas pereliikmed soojadele kohtadele" (in Estonian). Õhtuleht. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "01.03.2016, 13:50 Keskerakonna Tallinna nõukogu esitas Põhja-Tallinna linnaosa juhi kandidaadiks Raimond Kaljulaidi" (in Estonian). Delfi. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Raimond Kaljulaid kinnitati Põhja-Tallinna vanemaks" (in Estonian). Delfi. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Prosecutor ends criminal proceeding concerning Raimond Kaljulaid". ERR. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  8. ↑ ERR (2016-11-05). "Keskerakonna uus juhatus on Ratta leerist, peasekretär on Jaak Aab". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  9. ↑ "Debütandist üllataja Raimond Kaljulaid: tänulik olen". Äripäev. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  10. ↑ "Mandaatide omandamise viis". rk2019.valimised.ee. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  11. ↑ "Voting and election results". State Electoral Office. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "Gallery: Independent MP Raimond Kaljulaid joins Social Democratic Party". ERR. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  13. ↑ "Raimond Kaljulaid ja Olga Makina lahutasid abielu" (in Estonian). Õhtuleht. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "Palju õnne! Raimond Kaljulaid abiellus!". Kroonika. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Raimond Kaljulaid poolõest presidendiga koos üles ei kasvanud: ma tema otsuste ja seisukohtade suhtes avalikult sõna ei võta". kroonika.delfi.ee (in Estonian). Kroonika. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
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