In a parliamentary state, the president is not involved in the formation of a government, which is why they generally lack the right to reject a candidate for minister in connection with, for example, political convictions, writes attorney and former Chancellor of Justice Allar Jõks.
Would it be a constitutional crisis if the president were to block any names in the list of government members submitted by the candidate for prime minister?
This would be precedent, not a crisis. In this case, the government would enter office without a full configuration. There is nothing dramatic in this, as the prime minister can with their orders determine the order of the substitution of ministers. It is the same way things happen when the Riigikogu issues a motion of no confidence against a minister. A minister against whom a motion of no confidence passes is dismissed from their office immediately. In such a case, the prime minister with their orders delegates the dismissed minister’s tasks to another minister until a new minister is appointed.
Does the president have the right at all to weigh the suitability of a minister, or are they a rubber stamp?
