Ilves could ask Simson, not Savisaar, to form government, says Toomla
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said today that whoever wins the elections will have the first right to form the government, but University of Tartu political scientist Rein Toomla says Ilves could pick Kadri Simson, not Edgar Savisaar, as prime minister-desgnate.
Toomla said Ilves is free to make the proposal to form the government to anyone, it does not have to be a party chairman.
The Center Party could win the elections, according to the latest set of poll figures, but other political forces have ruled out cooperation with party head Savisaar. The Social Democrats recently said they would be willing to form a coalition with a Simson-led Center Party.
Toomla said the situation could arise if the Center Party wins, but a coalition with the Reform Party is also thinkable. “We might try to see them as worlds apart, but from another viewpoint, from afar, they are not that different. They have been together in two governments and managed well,” he said.
Speaking about the fringe parties, Toomla said if the Conservative People's Party or the Free Party, or both, pass the threshold and get into Parliament then there will be no possibility of a two-party coalition.
“It would be a very intriguing March and maybe even the beginning of April – who will be outplayed, how to win over one or another small party. This would be interesting for political scientists, but it may anger the laymen,” Toomla said.
If six parties make Parliament then the different coalition possibilities are very numerous.
Editor: J.M. Laats