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Savisaar Must Provide Good Answers, Says Fellow Party Member
A leading member of Edgar Savisaar's Centre Party says the time for waffling is over and that the politician must give his side of the story in a very specific manner.
MP Ain Seppik warned, however, against jumping to conclusions or pointing the finger at the role of Tallinn's deputy mayor, Deniss Boroditsh, in the party's dealings with Russian power brokers.
Seppik told Kuku Radio that the counterintelligence agency (KAPO) report was a credible document from a "credible organization" and said Savisaar's explanations would have to be specific.
"There can be no resorting to general talk about collaboration between Russian secret services and Estonian security police. This sort of political demagoguery will not work," said Seppik.
But he said that the declassified KAPO report should be read carefully lest people jump automatically to the conclusion that deputy Mayor Deniss Boroditsh necessarily asked the Russians for money for the Centre Party together with Savisaar, not that he was merely party to the conversation.
Earlier on December 22, Sven Mikser, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party that forms a governing coalition with the Centre in the Tallinn City Council, said that there would be no way for the Soc Dems of continuing in the coalition, unless Savisaar steps down as Mayor of Tallinn.
The Social Democrats overreacted, said Seppik. But if they pulled out of the coalition in Tallinn - a scenario which Seppik describes as a "considerable blow" for the Centre Party - Seppik said he would understand their actions.