Isamaa chair: Restrictions on movement cannot be decided quietly by cabinet
Chairman of the Isamaa Paty Helir-Valdor Seeder says that the government's decision on Tuesday to start limiting public movement is a matter of principle, one which should be decided at the Riigikogu and not solely at closed cabinet meetings. Seeder called it unstatesmanlike to keep quiet about impending restrictions until last Sunday's local elections were over.
Prime minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) had announced Tuesday that proof of a recent negative coronavirus test result would, from next Monday, not be sufficient to gain access to a wide range of public events, including catering businesses like restaurants or bars, as well as cultural events. Only vaccination certificates will suffice from that date.
Seeder said that the coronavirus passport requirement can't involve penalizing anybody.
He said: "There has been this logic that we are not going to try to limit the spread of the virus, and are going to keep the workload at hospitals as low as possible. People with negative test results are not infectious. Establishing such restrictions is questionable and it can only be established with a law," Seeder said.
Seeder found that the restrictions shouldn't be decided upon quietly, at cabinet-level alone.
"These new restrictions and the treating of people differently should be discussed at the Riigikogu. Estonia is a parliamentary democracy, and these decisions can't be made quietly," Seeder said.
He also criticized the timing of the restrictions, arguing that is not statesmanlike to announce them after the elections are over.
"This secretive preparation of the restrictions shows that the Reform and Center parties kept these regulations on hold for weeks in the fear of them affecting the results of the election," Seeder said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
