Four Ida-Viru local government councils will see majority governments
Half of the eight local municipality governments in Ida-Viru County could end up as absolute majority governments for electoral lists and parties running in the districts. However, coalition discussions must now begin in the cities of Narva and Kohtla-Järve and the municipalities of Lüganuse and Jõhvi.
Katri Raik's electoral alliance won 15 seats in Narva, only one seat fewer than an absolute majority for the 31-member council. The Center Party came second with 10 seats and Eesti 200 won two. Former mayor Aleksei Jevgrafov's election alliance "Elagu Narva" won four seats. EKRE, which had been campaigning to win Russian-speakers' votes, failed to cross the threshold and won no seats on the council.
Electoral alliance "Ühtne kodu" achieved 12 seats of the 17-seat council in Narva-Jõesuu with municipality mayor Maksim Iljin gaining the most votes in the district with 232. The Center Party will occupy the remaining five seats, there were no individual candidates elected to the local government council.
Municipality mayor Tauno Võhmar's alliance "Alutaguse" took eight of the 15 seats in Alutaguse municipality. Võhmar was also the most popular politician in the district, taking 248 of the 2,401 votes. Estonia's largest mainland municipality has still never had an official coalition and opposition, much to the liking of Võhmar, who said he hopes the municipality will continue as it has been at a pre-election debate. EKRE, alliance "Oma vald" and the Reform Party took two seats and Center achieved one seat.
Electoral alliance "Ühtselt Jõhvi eest" achieved seven seats of the 21-seat council in Jõhvi municipality, Center Party was able to gather enough votes for five seats, alliance "Jõhvikad" will take four seats, Reform Party will have three seats and EKRE will occupy two seats. According to daily Põhjarannik (link in Estonian), "Ühtselt Jõhvi Eest", Reform Party and EKRE could make a coalition, as they have the minimum 12 votes necessary.
While the Center Party was victorious in terms of the number of seats (12) of the 25-seat council in Kohtla-Järve, they lost six seats compared to the last election term and their result is not enough for a majority. This gives the remaining parties and alliances an opportunity to make a coalition of their own with the Social Democratic Party winning five seats, "Restart Kohtla-Järve" taking four seats and "Progress" and Reform Party taking two seats each.
The local municipality of Kohtla-Järve was the region with the lowest voter turnout in Estonia.
No clear majority was achieved in Lüganuse municipality: Center took six seats in the 19-seat council, alliance "Meie vald" took four, "Oma Rahva Eest" and Reform Party each took three, Isamaa took two seats and "Meie Koduvald Lüganuse" filled the remining seat. This means Lüganuse is likely to see a heated process of creating a coalition.
Center Party achieved a clear win in Sillamäe, taking 17 of the 21 seats available in the local government council. The Social Democratic Party took the remaining four seats.
Electoral alliance "Ühtne Vald" achieved a slight majority at Toila municipality with nine seats of the 17-seat council. Alliance "Terve meie kogukond" took seven seats and Reform Party will fill the remaining seat.
For full results of the 2021 local government elections, see ERR News' coverage here and here.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste