Reinsalu: Isamaa abstentions expressed dissatisfaction with Helme's words
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Isamaa deputy chairman Urmas Reinsalu said that the Isamaa parliamentary group of the Riigikogu abstained from the no-confidence vote against Minister of the Interior Mart Helme (EKRE) on Tuesday morning in order to express dissatisfaction with Helme's recent comments about Finland and its new prime minister.
"I'm sure the Isamaa parliamentary group's decision was made based on this coalition continuing and functioning, but I suppose it was also a reflection of its dissatisfaction," Reinsalu told ERR.
According to the minister, however, the coalition will keep working together.
"I believe that this is a majority coalition and it works," he said. "We could certainly do without the kind of nonsense that came about with [Helme's statements]. Let's hope things improve with the new year."
A total of 44 MPs in the 101-seat Riigikogu voted in favor of a opposition-initiated no-confidence motion against Helme on Tuesday morning; 42 MPs voted against.
Of the Isamaa parliamentary group, 11 MPs abstained from the vote; MP Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits voted in favor of the motion.
The opposition missed out on two additional possible votes, as Reform MP Valdo Randpere was absent from the sitting and Social Democratic Party (SDE) MP Jaak Juske also abstained.
The opposition's no-confidence motion, which focused on critical statements Helme made on the radio station TRE on Sunday about Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and the new Finnish government, bore the signatures of 46 MPs in total.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
