Former Minister Calls for National Referendum on Administrative Reform (2)

Published: 13.10.2011 13:46

Former Justice Minister, now attorney, Jüri Raidla
( Photo: ERR )

See Also

Former Minister of Justice Jüri Raidla has said that Estonia's administrative system is in desperate need of a thorough overhaul and that a national referendum is the only way to make it happen.

Just prior to heading to a conference on governance in Pärnu on October 13, Raidla told ETV that reforms have been delayed due to resistance by political parties and local government representatives who don't want to see existing power structures broken up.

The conference will focus on changing the overall administrative system and administrative culture in the country, as well as on reducing the number of public institutions.

According to Raidla, administrative reform has been discussed by governments since 1997, but all efforts have failed no matter which coalition was in power.

"There is no other choice but to hold a referendum and address the issue," he said, summarizing his view that real change would come only when a critical mass of people realize the government won't have enough resources to properly run the country in 20 or 30 years.   

He also said that about two-thirds of local governments are currently not able to carry out their functions as laid out by the law and the nation's constitution.

Earlier this week, a report by Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder also called for major changes, saying that reducing the number of local governments was inevitable.

Teder pointed to what he said was a clear conflict between the range of functions that local governments are required to handle and their populations and budgets.

 

Steve Roman

Comments

For adding comments,enter the ERR website with your user name and password , or use the form below to comment without logging in.


Guidelines for commenting can be found here.

Comments (2)

  • mart mang

    13.10.2011 16:11

    Smaller, lesser government always looks good on paper. But if you gain influence or power or wealth because there is less government, then you are part of the problem...

  • ameeriklane

    14.10.2011 09:03

    This is long overdue. I've said in the past that the easiest solution is that the 5 largest cities in the country get their own administration, and everywhere else it's handled at the county level. There is no reason for a town like Abja (with less than 2,500.. more people live on a single street in Lasnamae) to have its own local government. It's a waste. Let that town get their services from the county (Viljandimaa).