Daily: Tallinn Opposition Moving to Oust Deputy Mayor
Representatives of the Tallinn City Council's three opposition parties are planning a no-confidence vote against Deputy Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, Eesti Päevaleht has reported.
Last week Kõlvart was singled out in a national security agency (KAPO) annual report for his political activities and personal contacts with a Russian diplomat. The controversial report, while careful to point out that Kõlvart had broken no laws, nevertheless painted the Centre Party deputy mayor as a possible tool of Russia's policy of "compatriots".
The daily reported that the vote could take place within the next few days, however, speaking with rus.err.ee, Social Democrat council member Lauri Laats said it would be carried out on Thursday.
"Even if today at noon we decide to join up with IRL and Reform, in any case tomorrow, before the vote of no confidence, we'll take Mihhail Kõlvart to the carpet where he'll have to explain what's written about him in the KAPO yearbook," said Laats.
Laats said that the initiative from the vote came from IRL.
Because the Centre Party received 44 of the 79 City Council seats in the 2009 elections, five votes from party members or former party members would be enough to unseat Kõlvart. One of those could be Ain Seppik, who recently left the party in protest of the leadership's expulsion of MP Kalle Laanet last month. Another strong possibility is Tarmo Lausing, who has been critical of the party's leadership, Eesti Päevaleht speculated.
During the day on Wednesday, members of the City Council's Reform Party and IRL factions called for Mayor Edgar Savisaar to relieve Kõlvart of his duties. In a letter addressed to the mayor, they said that it was worrying and regrettable that under Kõlvart's leadership, Russia attempts to manipulate youths, whose future in Estonia as well as in Europe depends on access to competitive education.
The Social Dems, though voicing criticism of Kõlvart's accomlishments as deputy mayor responsible for education, refrained from signing the letter.
Steve Roman