Brief Return of Kallas Made Coalition Possible, Mikser Says
According to head of the Social Democrats Sven Mikser, his party’s coalition with the Reform Party became a reality thanks to Siim Kallas returning to Estonia. Once Kallas decided to give up his prime minister ambitions and return to his work as a EU Commissioner, the talks immediately became more difficult.
“I began talks with Siim Kallas and I must say that on the one hand, he is a very experienced negotiator, on the other hand, he has become so much more European in these 10 years that he is closer to the Social Democrats on several issues than many Reform Party members who have always lived in Estonia. His leaving the negotiating table transformed the situation,” Mikser said in an interview to ETV’s program Kahekõne on Thursday.
He said there would not have been much of a difference if Hanno Pevkur, who lost the prime minister candidacy by a few votes to Taavi Rõivas, would have been in the talks with the Social Democrats. He admitted the talks were difficult.
“In a multi-party parliament characteristic of continental Europe, where no party has a majority, no coalition is comfortable a priori and never allows the parties to fulfill all their promises, but it’s still better than nothing,” he said.