Greens Miffed at Lack of Invitation to Meeting With President
The country's fifth most popular party says it is requesting additional explanation from the President's Office as to why it was snubbed for an emergency sit-down between political players.
The meeting, to be held on Wednesday, was to be attended by parties and NGO representatives. (There is also an annual presidential roundtable to be held a day later, which will touch on some of the same themes.) But the Greens, who have 3-4 percent support but are not represented in Parliament, say they were bypassed.
"When I asked whether we were sent an invitation, the President's Office told us that we were not on the list and we were advised to watch the event over the Internet," said the party's leader, Aleksander Laane.
The party was founded in 2006 and made it into Parliament in 2007. It failed to garner enough support in 2011, thus becoming the party most directly affected by the 5 percent minimum requirement to be represented in Parliament. It is also viewed by some as more of a niche party or special interest group.
"The Green Party is not represented in the Parliament, but in terms of support we are the fifth party in Estonia. Our supporters and members are deeply shocked by such haughty and ignorant behavior by the president," said Laane.