Rõivas to step down as Reform Party chairman
Former prime minister Taavi Rõivas announced on Monday that he had decided to step down as chairman of the Reform Party by the end of the year. Rõivas was voted out of office in an expression of no confidence on Nov. 9, speculations about his replacement as chairman have made rounds since.
Rõivas announced his intent in a letter to fellow party members on Monday. In it, he wrote he had suggested that the leadership call a party assembly at the beginning of the next year to elect a new chairman. Rõivas has been at the helm of his party since spring 2014.
The new leadership needed to be a team that could win 2017’s local elections, Rõivas wrote. “I’m convinced that there are strong candidates, and that the Reform Party is going to win the next elections already in less than 300 days.”
Speculations about Rõivas’ replacement and potential candidates began as soon as it became clear that his government was going to be replaced. Two of the previous government as well as the party’s more prominent members, former Minister of the Interior Hanno Pevkur and former Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kristen Michal, are traded as the most hopeful candidates by the Estonian media.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn