Reform Party keeps Kiili on parliamentary defence committee

The Reform Party will not recall Meelis Kiili from the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, Defence Committee after he left the party and its parliamentary faction, faction leader Õnne Pillak told ERR.

Retired general Kiili announced his departure on Monday, saying he had expected more from Prime Minister Kristen Michal. Michal said he had not expected “soldiers’ hands to start shaking.”

Pillak said the Reform Party faction discussed the matter on Monday and agreed not to remove Kiili from the committee. She said continuing on the committee was Kiili’s own decision.

“We found that there was no point in punishing him or demonstrating power in this way,” Pillak said.

A day earlier, Kalev Stoicescu, another member of the Defence Committee and its chair, left the parliamentary list of Estonia 200, the Reform Party’s coalition partner. Estonia 200 announced on Monday evening that Stoicescu would be replaced by Toomas Uibo, who had previously served on the Rural Affairs Committee.

Uibo acknowledged that he could not match Stoicescu’s expertise in defence matters. He said the decision was based on workload, as fewer draft laws were being considered by the Rural Affairs Committee.

According to Uibo, the decision was made purely on parliamentary grounds and should not be seen as retaliation. Stoicescu said on Tuesday morning that he would write about the matter in more detail on social media, but added that the decision confirmed his reasons for leaving the party.

Although Pillak described recalling a departed party member from a committee as punishment and a show of force, she declined to condemn the coalition partner, saying it had made its own decision.

Following the departures of Kiili and Stoicescu from governing parties, Estonia has a minority government with 50 votes. The country last had a minority government in 2018-19, when Jüri Ratas, now a European Parliament member, was prime minister. At the time, Ratas was still the leader of the Centre Party.

Ratas’s first government remained in office until the next parliamentary elections in spring 2019. After the election, the Centre Party formed another government under Ratas, known as EKREIKE.