Isamaa, Centre Party and EKRE to pursue Michal no-confidence vote without SDE

Estonian opposition parties Isamaa, the Centre Party and EKRE will proceed with a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Kristen Michal even if the opposition Social Democratic Party does not join them, ERR reports.

Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu said the Social Democrats should be given time to reconsider their position. He said a vote without them would clearly show which parties support Michal’s government and which do not.

EKRE leader Martin Helme said his party would continue trying to persuade the Social Democrats to support the motion. He said the no-confidence vote could give voters an opportunity to dissolve the current parliament and remove the government.

Helme added that if the Social Democrats could not be persuaded, the other opposition parties should proceed without them. He said the Social Democrats would eventually have to explain to voters why they were keeping Michal in power.

Centre Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart said the no-confidence motion would go ahead, but that its technical details still needed to be discussed by the parliamentary faction leaders the following week. He said the opposition parties, apart from the Social Democrats, viewed the motion as the only way to fundamentally improve the situation.

Läänemets calls motion a political show

Social Democratic Party leader Lauri Läänemets described the no-confidence initiative as a political show intended to trigger snap elections. He said the Social Democrats would not join the motion.

Läänemets said snap elections would mean the cancellation of an election debate and would most likely take place around Christmas. In his view, this would prevent voters from asking parties critical questions about how they planned to address Estonia’s public finances, the healthcare crisis, energy and environmental issues.

Läänemets said he would consider supporting a no-confidence motion if Reinsalu proposed forming an alternative working majority government.

He said he had asked Isamaa, the Centre Party and other parties whether they could form a functioning government, but that they had no plan beyond creating chaos.

Läänemets said a no-confidence vote in the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, would put the Social Democrats in a difficult position. He said the party was in opposition to Michal and the current government, not to Estonia, and argued that the opposition should not be so irresponsible as to sow chaos and confusion.