Ansip Reins in Finance Minister After TV Debate Gets Nasty
Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi's comments on an ETV program yesterday prompted censure from Prime Minister Andrus Ansip.
In an argument over increasing the tax-free minimum, Ligi told Center Party's Kadri Simson to “stop clucking,” adding "shut up."
At the government's press conference today, the prime minister said he did not see the program, but called for officials to show respect toward one another.
"Honor your conversation partners even when you do not share their views and try to identify with them, otherwise there is no point to the discussion,” Ansip said.
The pair had been locked in a heated argument over whether to raise the tax-free minimum. Simson said that Ligi has ignored suggestions from the IMF and OECD to soften consumption tax hikes with an increase in the tax-free minimum, while Ligi objected, saying that he negotiates with the organizations and the MP only reads about them in newspapers.
Simson then claimed that Ligi has increased the tax on consumption, which the minister rebutted with the aforementioned comments, provoking the host to ask the participants to mind their manners.