Reform Party Tartu department unhappy with coalition agreement
The coalition agreement has come under fire from the ruling Reform Party's Tartu branch, a Reform Party stronghold, which said in a statement that the agreement with IRL and the Social Democrats does not reflect the party's main values. The statement comes less than a week after the Social Democrats named Jevgeni Ossinovski, an outspoken critic of the coalition agreement, as chairman.
Hannes Astok, a former Reform Party MP and one of the authors of the statement, said it is high time to stop the proposed tax changes as the new tax rates would burden people too much.
The statement also said the changes are unfair to businesses and are not in line with realistic possibilities.
“We predict that it is impossible to fulfill the agreement as there is no money for it,” he said, adding that the coalition agreement increases financial mismanagement and tax fraud.
“We would like to see a public debate on the coalition agreement and if unobtainable goals are forced in by one or another political power, then those tasks should be removed,” he said.
Tartu Mayor Urmas Klaas, a Reform Party member, said regional offices should be given more information about the coalition agreement, including details on planned tax hikes, which have now made it to Parliament.
The Reform Party has held the mayor position in Tartu since 1998, when a young Andrus Ansip was sworn in as mayor of Estonia's second largest city.
PM Taavi Rõivas, the Reform Party Chairman, is due to travel to Tartu on Friday for an official trip.
Editor: J.M. Laats