Jõks warns voters are swayed by cheap promises

Former Chancellor of Justice Allar Jõks says distrust of everything has become Estonia’s greatest enemy and that difficult times do not justify breaking the law. In an interview on Vikerraadio’s “Friday Interview,” reported by ERR, he also voiced concern that political parties are abandoning their principles and voters are being won over by cheap promises.

Asked about the next Chancellor of Justice, Jõks said he had no reliable information to share. He declined to name candidates, but said the strongest prospects would be jurists who had earned recognition through their work, spoken out on important issues and shown they were willing to stand apart from the crowd.

He said the role requires more than a law degree. A Chancellor of Justice must be prepared to be uncomfortable, and even unpopular with those in power. Jõks added that he was unsure whether all the potential candidates would put conscience above a desire to adapt or be re-elected, especially at critical moments for the state or the Constitution.

Jõks said conscience and values were not especially fashionable today, but that he had treated values as supports to hold on to in difficult times. He said he teaches his two sons and four grandchildren that everyone should have three principles they would never sell. In job interviews at his law firm, he asks candidates to name three such values, noting that many have not considered the question.

Without firm values, people can become increasingly uncertain and start looking for enemies instead of solutions, he said.

Jõks ruled out returning to the post, calling it a chapter he had already completed. He said seven years in the role had been enough to make his contribution, and that the institution now needed someone with fresh energy to carry it forward from where outgoing Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise leaves it.