Prime Minister against government deciding by vote
Reacting to criticism expressed in the President’s speech on Wednesday, Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas (Reform) said he wasn't in favor of decision-making by vote in the government, as this would not be fair toward the smaller coalition partners.
Rõivas said on Thursday that the government making decisions by vote hadn't happened in Estonia for more than a decade.
President Ilves had suggested in his Independence Day speech that the government make decisions by vote in order to avoid delays due to tactical moves by ministers and parties. "Why can't decisions be voted on if necessary? This is logical and prescribed by the Government of the Republic Act. The current method has inexcusably slowed down and weakened the government's work, and made decision-making almost impossible. Instead, calculating more typical of a chess game is occurring. If you do this, we will do that," Ilves said.
Rõivas’ response was that voting in the government instead of making decisions by consensus would not be fair toward the smaller government parties and would lead to a collapse of the government.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said in his speech on Wednesday that while endeavoring to achieve a consensus befitted a coalition government, this didn't have to be an absolute rule.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn