Riigikogu legal affairs committee: No support for repeal of Registered Partnership Act
The legal affairs committee of the Riigikogu on Tuesday did not support a motion filed by 12 opposition MPs to repeal the much contested gender neutral Registered Partnership Act.
The committee decided not to back the bill with five votes to four, MP Jaanus Karilaid (Center), one of the authors of the bill, said.
The MPs representing the coalition's junior member IRL and the Free Party abstained.
"It's regrettable that IRL and the Free Party are acting in outright conflict with what they say, and decided today not to support the repeal of the Registered Partnership Act that we initiated. When it comes to IRL, we know that an act like this earns them a return in the coalition. But we don't know yet what agreements the Free Party has made that got them to abandon their support. The first reading of the bill will take place in the plenary next Tuesday, and it will be possible for many parties to save their political face then. I hope that they will make use of that opportunity," Karilaid said.
The Riigikogu legal affairs committee is made up of 11 MPs, six of whom represent the coalition and five the opposition. The Reform Party and the Center Party have three MPs each, the Social Democratic Parts two and IRL, Free Party and the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) one MP each in the standing committee.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn