Ossinovski causes trouble for coalition on day 1
Former Education Minister Jevgeni Ossinovski was one of the few coalition members to grill PM Taavi Rõivas in Parliament on Wednesday and was the only coalition party member not to back Rõivas in Parliament, abstaining in the vote.
Ossinovski asked Rõivas about the inclusion of Kristen Michal, who was forced to resign from his ministerial post in 2012 after a party financing scandal. Ossinovski asked if Rõivas believes Michal, who had rejected allegations against him and said that he did nothing illegal. Rõivas said he believes all of his new ministers.
Ossinovski could be feeling left out, having been given a ministry a year ago when the Social Democrats replaced IRL in coalition, with many, including party head Sven Mikser, saying Ossinovski could one day lead Estonia. Yet this time around he was not deemed high enough in party ranking to receive one of the four ministries controlled by the party.
He himself said a few weeks ago that he is not interested in the education minister post as teachers will not receive a sizable pay hike, but the ministry went to Reform Party instead.
The new minister will be Jürgen Ligi, who was forced to resign from the government last year after crossing the line in a social media attack on Ossinovski.
Editor: J.M. Laats