Former SDE Tallinn City Commissioner joins Center Party
Helve Särgava, a former judge and a member of Tallinn City Council who left the Social Democratic Party (SDE) last summer, announced she had joined the Center Party on Tuesday.
Särgava said at a press conference she still has the energy and will to stay active in politics.
"Life goes on and doesn't come back. I've had different conversations with different parties," Särgava said. Explaining why she joined the Center Party Särgava said she was a simple country girl, from a simple country home. "In my opinion, the Center Party is for ordinary people."
Särgava said she wants to tackle corruption, domestic violence and housing associations.
She has allegedly been offered the position of Deputy Chairman of the Tallinn City Council. Currently, Toivo Tootsen of the Center Party and Mart Luik of Isamaa are the deputy chairmen of the council.
Särgava said she would agree to take the vice-chair if the council's Center Party faction agrees. "I would like to act and accept a position with a broader scope. If the council decides, I agree."
The Center Party currently holds 39 of the 79 council seats, which will increase to 40 when Särgava joins.
Särgava resigned from the SDE last summer but continued on the council as a member of the faction. In a city budget vote, Särgava, along with MPs from the Center Party and EKRE, voted in favor of the budget and were sacked.
Särgava told ERR at that time the Estonian state would pay her a decent pension as a former judge. "But for almost a year I haven't been active in politics. I want to act, not to sit in a corner, and in conversations with different parties I have said that."
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Editor: Helen Wright