Expert: The coalition agreement not a vision, but a road map
Vello Pettai, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Tartu, told ERR that the coalition agreement between the Reform Party, the Social Democrats and Pro Patria, and the Res Publica Union Party (IRL) is more like a work plan than a long-term vision.
Pettai said that all participating partners have had to give way to the demands of others. “Many big promises, either in numbers or in principles, have been cut in order to seal the deal.”
But Pettai said that unlike the previous coalition agreements, the new one actually includes some definite promises: “It says very specifically on the opening page that the priorities for the government are matters concerning people on low-income, large families with children, security and defense policies, and only then, followed by other plans."
“By comparison, in the 2011's coalition agreement, the former prime minister Andrus Ansip simply stated that the priority is a competitive, economic environment – and that was all. The present contract reflects the difficulties in reaching an agreement by the three-party alliance, but on the other hand, their road map is clarified and the aims are specific enough to accomplish them.”
The critics have already pointed out that the new coalition agreement lacks a long-term vision for Estonia, but Pettai said that in order to reach an agreement, the three partners had to settle on the working plan first: “The vision came before the election when the parties proposed their ideas. Voters made their choice and the parties who formed the coalition had to first compromise and put together the road map to form the new government.”
Editor: S. Tambur