Sitting mayor, Madis Timpson (Reform) will remain mayor, while Helmen Kütt, a Social Democratic MP at the national level but who ran with local electoral alliance Südamega Viljandi at the October 17 elections, will be city council chair.

Südamega Viljandi won eight seats, Reform won seven and Center won two, giving it a 17-seat majority on the 27-seat council chamber.

The three parties said that while their coalition was one of consensus, all members have their goals to contribute to in the coming years.

In addition to Timpson and Kütt, the eight-member government, Südamega Viljandi will contribute three more government members along with the deputy mayoral post, while Reform will pick up one deputy mayoral position.

Kütt, Simpson, and public administration minister Jaak Aab, who is also Center's Viljandi branch chair, signed the deal on Friday (see gallery).

What will happen with one of the most widely-reported issues facing the city, a controversial monument to singer Jaak Joala (1950-2014), a Viljandi native, has not been announced yet.

The monument hit trouble from the start, after being unveiled at the end of last year, partly on aesthetic grounds but primarily because Joala's widow has trademarked the late singer's name. The edifice has remained encased in a large box for most of this year.

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