![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/290000/images/_292100_chart150.jpg)
Former Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar's Centre Party won the largest number votes, taking 28 seats in the 101-seat parliament, known as Riigikogu.
But the coalition of Reform, Fatherland and Moderate parties got a narrow majority of 53 seats and has vowed to freeze Mr Savisaar out of negotiations to form a government.
"We will have our first consultations today. I believe that during the week a broader agreement will begin to take shape," Toivo Jurgenson of the rightist Fatherland Alliance told Estonian radio.
Mr Jurgenson did not give further details and did not say who was leading in the race for prime minister.
The opposition parties favour continuing the market-oriented reforms that have made Estonia the economic success story of the former Soviet Union.
Under the constitution, the three parties will have to wait over a week before getting an official invitation to form a government.
Savisaar: 'Over-reaction'
Mr Savisaar said the announcement was a nervous over-reaction that attempted to anticipate events.
"Nothing has been determined yet," he said early on Monday. "I think the president should ask the leader of the winning party to form a government."
Once final official results are released on March 17, President Lennart Meri will choose a party leader to try to form a government.
But correspondents say he has made little effort to hide his distaste for Savisaar's populist rhetoric and is under no obligation to designate the head of the largest party in parliament as premier.
Estimates by the electoral commission showed voter turnout down to around 55% from 70% in 1995.
EU talks ahead
Estonia is by far the wealthiest of the three Baltic states and its next government is likely to lead negotiations for the country's entry into the European Union and Nato.
It is the only former Soviet republic to be invited by the EU to begin detailed membership negotiations.
But whoever forms the new government will have to cope with a worsening economic downturn caused partly by the financial problems in neighbouring Russia.
Many voters say the election is as much about confirming Estonia's status as an independent modern European democracy as it is about choosing a new government.
Country profiles
Pro-reform parties set for victory
(08 Mar 99 | Europe)
A tale of two cities on Russia's border
(10 Feb 99 | Europe)
When Russia sneezes ...
(15 Sep 98 | Russia crisis)
Estonia: country report
(10 Mar 98 | EU Enlargement)
Riigikogu: The Parliament of the Republic of Estonia
Centre Party (in Estonian)
Reform Party (in Estonian)
Fatherland Union (in Estonian)
Estonian Elections 1999 (in Estonian)
Office of the Estonian President
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