Constitutional committee MPs ditch e-meeting, surprise Poolamets in person

The Riigikogu's constitutional affairs committee was scheduled to discuss amendments to the marriage by e-meeting on Friday, but opposition representatives Kaja Kallas (Reform), Valdo Randpere (Reform) and Lauri Läänemets (SDE) surprised committee chairman Anti Poolamets' (EKRE) by showing up in person.
Poolamets was not too happy to host his uninvited guests and left his office after an exchange heading to the EKRE's faction's rooms, where Kallas, Randpere and Läänemets chose not to follow him.
Läänemets, along with other opposition politicians, said on Thursday that the goal of the e-meeting is to suppress the opposition as a virtual meeting allows for the chairman to mute presenters of amendments if they pass their allocated time to explain their proposals.
Läänemets, who is also the committee's deputy chairman, sent a letter to the Riigikogu's board, protesting the virtual sitting and asking for an explanation for the legal basis on which the committee chairman is allowed to call for a virtual meeting and to deny the committee members from meeting in Toompea Castle.
The board of the Riigikogu has received a protest from opposition MPs, as they were not given enough time in the constitutional committee to present their amendments to the marriage bill. Speaker of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas said the board will discuss the protests in the near future, but he added there is not much that supports the protests.
At the same time, Social Democratic Party leader Indrek Saar and Hanno Pevkur (Reform) were waiting for the meeting to start in the constitutional committee's usual room.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste