IRL MP Compares Coalition Partner to Tallinn Mayor
Andres Herkel, a member of the junior coalition party who recently stepped down from senior posts in the party, blasted the ruling Reform Party in his blog, calling them the equal of a longtime nemesis, the politician Edgar Savisaar.
"The conflict between Savisaar and anti-Savisaar has long been replaced by a situation where other parties have become Savisaarized to an outstanding degree," he wrote. Savisaar, the Tallinn mayor, has over the years been criticized for various practices that are hallmarks of corruption and close ties to Russian Federation politicians.
In his statement, Herkel said none of the four parties in Parliament can any longer be considered clean.
"Clean parties would not try to respond to a demonstration against them with a fictitious counter-protest, which is what the Reform Party did in spring," said Herkel.
"Clean parties would not create such 'truth commissions' where MP Aivar Kokk is investigating a case of suspicion connected to himself."
"Recently, Valdo Randpere tried to tell the simple-minded that the Reform Party is the number one anti-Savisaar force," said Herkel. "Yet the malarkey that came out of people's mouths during the financing scandal was very much like Savisaar."
"Even though from time to time there are voices calling for us to overcome this age-old Savisaar vs anti-Savisaar tug-of-war, we see that they are already warming the old soup for the autumn local elections," he said.
Herkel called for a greater role for NGOs and civic groups in debating local issues, saying "party membership cards did not provide any added intelligence."