Pärnu city council power shake-up results in three motions of no-confidence
Fallout from the recent power switch in the southwestern city of Pärnu, which saw Isamaa replace Center in office, has led to motions of no-confidence being submitted in both directions.
The council chair is still Anton Korobeinik (Center), though the party is now in opposition.
Siim Suursild, Isamaa deputies' chair at Pärnu council, claimed that: "If a new coalition agreement is signed in the city by the majority of the council members, this obviously also leads to a change of the council chairman. It's as simple as that."
"The new council chair will be determined by the council's board and our party's city council group, immediately before the next council session, whose date we have proposed. We will let the public know when the board has made its decision regarding the persons," Suursild went on.
Mayor Romek Kosenkranius (Pärnu Ühendab electoral alliance) has received two motions of no-confidence from the two opposition parties, Center – recently ousted from office – and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), while Isamaa has submitted a motion of no-confidence in sitting council chair Andrei Korobeinik (Center), on the grounds that Center is no longer in office in Pärnu.
While Isamaa proposed the extraordinary sitting for September 21, it is down to Korobeinik as council chair, as things currently stand, whether and when to convene that sitting.
The new coalition deal signed between Mayor Kosenkranius and Pärnu Ühendab, Isamaa and the Reform Party followed telegraphing of that move by Korobeinik in an opinion piece he wrote for ERR a week ago. Kosenkranius has faced criticism of his managing of the city, while Pärnu has also had to appeal for extra state funding, of €25 million, to get a new bridge over the Pärnu River built.
The Riigikogu Speaker, the national equivalent of a council chair, is Jüri Ratas, whose party, Center, has also been in opposition there since early June.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte