Three Reform Party members leave future affiliation open
Monday 10th August 2026 on 13:00 in
Estonia
Three members of Estonia’s Reform Party have not ruled out leaving the party, ERR reported, following Meelis Kiili’s departure. All three said the party had made choices they did not support.
Reform Party member Hanah Lahe said political movement often takes place before elections. Asked whether she was planning to leave, Lahe said there had been various discussions but that she could not say.
“Every politician has considered during their journey which people they can work with and where they can stand for different issues more or less effectively,” Lahe said.
She added that it had been difficult in recent years to advocate within the Reform Party for issues important to her, although she said the global situation also played a role.
Social Democratic Party leader Lauri Läänemets said the Social Democrats had spoken with several members of the Reform Party and Eesti 200 about their views on the coalition’s future and their plans.
Läänemets said he believed Lahe had also been approached. In his view, the Social Democrats and Lahe occupied a similar ideological space and might share a similar vision for Estonia’s future.
Reform Party member Aivar Sõerd told ERR he had not yet decided whether to stand in the spring parliamentary elections. He declined to comment further on whether he planned to leave the party.
Maido Ruusmann, another party member, said on Monday afternoon that he was not leaving the party at that time. He said, however, that every politician occasionally considers whether their party, or politics in general, is right for them.
Ruusmann also acknowledged that the Reform Party had previously made decisions with which he did not always agree, but said the grass might not necessarily be greener elsewhere.
Kiili announced on Monday morning that he was leaving the Reform Party and would continue working in parliament as an unaffiliated member.
After Kiili’s departure from the party and its parliamentary group, and Kalev Stoicescu’s departure announcement the previous day, the governing coalition now has 50 members of parliament, effectively leaving the country with a minority government.