Kõlvart says minority government needs compromises to pass budget

Estonia’s minority government will need to offer compromises to the opposition to pass the state budget this autumn, Center Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart told ERR.

Kõlvart said the coalition may already have agreements or be negotiating with members of parliament who do not belong to any faction.

He said the coalition still had enough votes for now, but warned that Kalev Stoicescu and Meelis Kiili were unlikely to be the last lawmakers to leave the coalition parties.

According to Kõlvart, the situation will become particularly tense when the government begins work on the budget and it reaches the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament. “The budget can then be passed only through compromises. Cooperation must emerge between the coalition and the opposition,” he said.

Kõlvart also said the coalition did not have the votes needed for the presidential election. He said it would be incorrect for the coalition to promise any potential candidate 68 votes because it did not have that level of support.

Although the Center Party does not plan to support the minority government, Kõlvart said it also did not want to create instability in the country. Much would depend on the government’s conduct, he said, adding that if it proved unable to manage, it would have to take responsibility.

The departures of Stoicescu from Eesti 200 and Kiili from the Reform Party leave the coalition with 50 votes in the 101-member Riigikogu.