Isamaa leads Estonia party recruitment as Eesti 200 adds two members

Isamaa gained 204 new members in the first eight months of the year, while government coalition party Eesti 200 added only two, ERR reported, citing data from Estonia’s commercial register.

The register lists the members of political parties and allows this year’s new members to be identified. Isamaa now has 7,347 members.

Among the better-known people to join Isamaa are entrepreneur Tõnis Arro, playwright Anu Tonts, publisher Mart Jagomägi, school head Mehis Pever and basketball official Aadu Kana. Several new members had already run as Isamaa candidates in local elections.

Eesti 200 added one member in January and another in February. As of Tuesday morning, the party had 586 members.

EKRE and the Centre Party recruited almost the same number of new members. EKRE gained 108 members and now has 9,044. The Centre Party added 104 members and has 11,685 members in total.

Among the better-known people to join the Centre Party this year are volleyball coach Urmas Tali and former Haapsalu mayor Urmas Sukles. Silver Kuusik also returned to the party, where he began his political career in 2004. He later joined the People’s Unity Party, the Free Party, EKRE and the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives.

The non-parliamentary Right-Wing Party gained 47 members, including Kalev Stoicescu, who transferred from Eesti 200, and the party’s press spokesperson Ekvard Joakit. The party has 848 members.

The Social Democratic Party added 43 members, including psychiatrist Anne Kleinberg and cultural figure Kersten Kõrge. It has 4,488 members.

The Reform Party gained 29 members. Musician Ruslan Trochynskyi was the best-known new recruit. The party has 8,895 members.

Among the smaller parties, the Greens gained eight members and now has 708. The Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives gained 41 members, but numerous departures left it only one member above the minimum required membership of 500.

The Estonian National Liberals Free Party gained no new members this year and has 528 members. The Koos party added two members and has 726 in total.