Ilves: Savisaar wants to turn Estonia into an Oblast
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, commenting on statements made by Center Party Chairman Edgar Savisaar on the Estonian legal system, said Savisaar wants to turn Estonia into an Oblast, an administrative unit in Russia.
“A chairman of a Parliament party talked on Sunday about its insubordination to the Estonian justice system, promising to untie the Center Party from our legal system. This man wants to turn Estonia in to an Oblast 25 years after the restoration of democracy," Ilves told Delfi.
“This will not happen – the people are against it. Estonia cannot be turned in to an Oblast ever again,” he added.
“Authorities are conducting politics and politics is run with the help of authorities. Our planned changes in rules untie the Center Party from Estonia's legal system. This is a civilized vote of no confidence against the prosecution, ISS (Internal Security Service) and the courts. We do not trust them as we have seen them work,” Savisaar said at the party's congress on Sunday.
He was referring to a change whereby Center Party members receiving a guilty verdict in criminal court are no longer ejected from the party automatically. Two Center Party MPs were sentenced a few weeks ago, and both were ejected from the Parliament but are likely to continue in the party. Savisaar himself is under investigation for corruption.
Editor: J.M. Laats