Solman says Isamaa will peak for parliamentary election
Wednesday 28th October 2026 on 12:01 in
Estonia
Isamaa is holding back its strongest performance for the parliamentary election campaign, the party’s deputy chair and Tallinn deputy mayor Riina Solman said, attributing its recent decline in the polls to other parties’ early campaign tactics. She made the comments on ERR’s online programme “Otse uudistemajast”.
Recent surveys by Emor and Norstat show the Centre Party overtaking Isamaa in support. Solman said her party had expected some of the “air” to come out of its high ratings as competition intensified and other parties began campaigning.
She said some voters had not yet made up their minds and might support whichever party was most visible or whose messages appealed to them at the time of a poll, then change their choice later. Isamaa’s core and potential voters, she said, remained firmly behind the party. The party was timing its peak for the “real contest”.
Solman said the polling decline had not prompted crisis meetings within Isamaa, and that the party was continuing its normal work.
Isamaa hopes to increase its previous election result of eight seats in parliament fourfold, Solman said. She described a result of 20 to 25 seats as achievable for the party.
Solman said the Social Democrats had drawn attention by campaigning aggressively and opposing other parties. She said the arrival of new political figures could create an impression of rapid progress, citing Isamaa politician Sandra Laur, who joined the party a year earlier.
She also said the Social Democrats’ communication strategy had helped focus public attention on them, while Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu was occupied with daily political and legislative work. Solman said the Centre Party had gained ground through coordinated, persistent work after emerging from a difficult situation, adding that Isamaa could learn from it.
Solman also praised the Reform Party’s newly released campaign videos, saying it was right to involve creative people in developing and presenting a party’s programme.