Four parties to announce Tallinn mayoral candidates before summer
EKRE, Isamaa, Eesti 200 and the Greens will announce their candidates for mayor of Tallinn by the summer, the parties have said. The Social Democrats and Center parties have already announced their candidates.
Chairman of Isamaa's Tallinn region Olle Koop told ERR said the issue has not yet been discussed and the process is being hindered by the inability to hold face-to-face meetings due to the coronavirus restrictions.
"No one has been discussed, no one has been ruled out," he said, adding the candidate should be announced by the start of summer.
Koop did not rule out that Lavly Perling, the former Prosecutor General who has expressed support for Isamaa's Parempoolsed association, could become a candidate.
"I would not see a problem with that if she was a member of the party. There's definitely no reason to exclude her, she could be a good candidate," Koop said.
Head of Eesti 200's Tallinn region Marek Reinaas told ERR the party has several good potential candidates among its current members, such as himself, Lauri Hussar, Margus Tsahkna or Luukas Ilves, but a candidate could also be someone who joins the party in the near future.
The party will announce a candidate by the start of summer after it holds its general assembly.
Reinaas said the party will go to the elections will a full list of candidates in Tallinn. "Eesti 200's support in Tallinn is at 20 percent, which means that we take these elections very seriously and our candidate for mayor can actually become Tallinn's mayor," he told ERR.
The party's chairman Kristina Kallas has already said she will run for mayor of Tartu.
Leader of the Estonian Green Party's Tallinn region Olev Tinn would like to see party chairman Züleyxa Izmailova put forward as the candidate for mayor of Tallinn.
"Izmailova has already been the deputy mayor of Tallinn and has been able to prove herself as a values-based politician with clear red lines that she does not cross," Tinn told ERR.
Tinn said there are several big issues in Tallinn such as lack of analysis for urban planning, discrimination against pedestrians and cyclists, traffic management and reduction of green spaces which need tackling.
EKRE spokesman Holger Berg told ERR the party's candidate will be announced after its annual congress in the spring. "Probably in May," he said.
The Center Party's candidate will be the current mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kõlvart and the SDE have said Raimond Kaljulaid will be their candidate.
The local government elections will be held on October 17.
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Editor: Helen Wright
