Alender: IRL Stuck in the Past
IRL Tallinn Council member Yoko Alender said the party's problems stem from being too focused on past events and ways of doing things.
She told Postimees that word like "occupation“ should not be used, and in communication with Russians living Estonia, people should focus on common connections.
“If we give citizenship to children born in Estonia whose parents have no citizenship, then this is a sign that they are accepted into society,” she said, adding that the Estonian language lessons should begin already in kindergartens, which will allow children to grow in and into this cultural space.
Alender was one of the only IRL members to speak up for the Cohabitation Act, which was passed by Parliament recently, and which will allow same-sex couples to register together for legal protection.
More than 30 percent of people who said they vote IRL also supported the bill, the same level as Social Democratic Party supporters, and only slightly less than Reform Party supporters, yet no IRL MP voted for the bill. Although a few abstained.