Läänemets blames Reform leaders for minority government

Estonia’s minority government is the result of Reform Party leaders’ strategic decisions, Social Democratic Party chairman Lauri Läänemets said, according to ERR. He said Prime Minister Kristen Michal’s decision to remove the Social Democrats from the government placed the Reform Party and Estonia 200 in their current position.

“The fact that we now have a government that fell into a minority during the summer should not come as a surprise. It was foreseeable for a long time,” Läänemets told ERR. “Rather, it is surprising that Kristen Michal placed the Reform Party in this situation very deliberately by removing the Social Democrats from the government more than a year ago.”

“The situation Estonia and the governing coalition are in today is a very deliberate and strategic decision by Reform Party leaders, as Kristen Michal has repeatedly emphasised. They must now deal with the consequences of that strategy themselves,” he added.

Focus should be on presidential election

Läänemets said opposition parties may seek votes of no confidence in various ministers, but argued that attention should instead be focused on the presidential election.

“It is not reasonable to carry out other political activities with a greater impact at the same time as the presidential election. The chaos the country would face if it had neither a government nor a president at the same time would not be good,” he said.

He added that such a situation would be bad for national security and economic stability, saying both the governing coalition and the opposition must safeguard the country’s security and stability.

“In my view, we should first elect the president, and then we can discuss what will happen next,” Läänemets said.

He said the departure of lawmakers Stoicescu and Kiili from the coalition could prolong the presidential election process.

“I do not know how these two lawmakers might vote for different candidates or which party they might join,” Läänemets said.

Social Democrats see no reason to support budget

Speaking about discussions on the state budget and its eventual approval by the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, Läänemets said the Social Democrats had no reason to support it.

“At present, I do not see a single reason why the Social Democrats should support the state budget. It remains the governing coalition’s responsibility to get the budget approved,” he said.

Läänemets said the Social Democrats had been highly critical of the previous state budget, which he said provided substantial loan-funded benefits to the wealthier part of society and put the budget on its largest deficit trajectory in history.

“The idea that the Social Democrats would come and start fixing the Reform Party’s mistakes, while being a partner they push aside and then bring out of the corner when needed, is not acceptable. The Social Democrats will not do that. We have no reason to take responsibility for the Reform Party’s mistakes,” he said.

Läänemets also rejected the possibility that the Reform Party could offer the Social Democrats something in return for their support.

“Do you mean a progressive income tax, for example? They will not manage to do that anymore,” he said ironically.

“The Social Democrats are not a party that can be lured into providing support with a sweetener,” he added.

Parliamentary elections limit coalition options

Läänemets said failure to approve the state budget in the Riigikogu would not lead to snap elections because parliamentary elections are due soon.

He also said he did not believe a new governing coalition could be formed before the parliamentary elections. He estimated that the presidential election might end in the second half of September and said that a vote of no confidence in the current government followed by the formation of a new coalition could take the process into November.

That would leave only three or four months before the parliamentary elections, he said, making a new coalition impractical.