Presidential longshot unveils state reform plan
The entrepreneur of the year for 2014 and a possible candidate to replace President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in 2016, Jüri Raidla, has unveiled 10 ideas for state reform.
He said any state reform plan should be radical, implemented in a competent manner and be wide-reaching.
“What I am talking about is tuning the state apparatus for the future, when the number of tax receivers has grown and the number of tax payers decreased,” he said at a conference for employers.
Raidla's 10-point program is:
1. reduce Parliament to 71 members (from 101)
2. free Parliament from the risk of a referendum
3. give the PM independent competence. The Prime Minister should be the nation's head strategist
4. abolish county governments and governors
5. administrative reform on the 15+ principle: counties turn into municipalities
6. decrease the number of people employed by the Bank of Estonia
7. give the Chancellor of Justice more powers
8. remove clear mistakes from the Constitution
9. stop the massive flood of laws which stifle the state and society
10. decrease the number of state and local government officials by at least 15 percent
Raidla said such a plan would take parliamentary elections.
He said decreasing the number of MPs serves no financial purpose, but as an example of cuts in state administration that must be made.
Raidla is a lawyer, partner at Raidla Lejins and Norcous, and has participated in drafting much core legilsation in Estonia. He has not held many political positions, but was justice minister from 1990 to 1992.
Editor: J.M. Laats