Leading IRL Pols Comment on Possible Life After Reform Party Rule
The past week has brought two statements from ruling coalition politicians reflecting on the possibility of the Reform Party being unseated in the years ahead, a prospect that polls for much of 2013 indicate is real.
In an interview with Postimees, Speaker Ene Ergma, a member of coalition partner IRL, said a "left turn" - something that has arguably only been approximated in 1995 when ex-communists swept aside right-of-center forces - would "not be a disaster."
"I wouldn't consider it a major disaster. Perhaps it would be more useful to reflect as part of the opposition and show that even while in the opposition, it's possible to offer up something new," she said.
She also suggested there was much more room for discussion of tax issues. Ultraliberal policies, such as a flat income tax and the lack of effective corporate income tax, have dominated during the Reform Party's tenure.
For his part, former PM Mart Laar said that current Prime Minister Andrus Ansip had been in office "too long."
"I know many good prime ministers who were in office a little too long and then the people's weariness swept them away," Laar said in an interview to Delfi.
On December 4, with Luxembourg's premier Jean-Claude Juncker leaving office after nearly 19 years, Andrus Ansip became Europe's longest-serving prime minister currently in power.