Isamaaliit
Arumäe was born in Tootsi, and graduated in 1988 from the University of Tartu, faculty of Law. On 2 June 1994 he became Minister of Justice in the first government of Prime Minister Mart Laar, an office he retained until 8 November that year. Arumäe was registered as a member of the conservative Pro Patria Union between 1998 and 2010, and the centrist Estonian Centre Party between 2009 and 2011.