Nõgene, 43, first joined the Reform Party on December 5, 2001. According to Estonia's business register, he resigned from the party last Friday, August 11.

"This step was a personal decision," he said, commenting on his resignation. "First of all, never in my 22 years have I been an active member of the party, so my leaving won't have a wider impact."

Politics has changed a great deal over these decades, he said, adding that he doesn't feel like he fits in Estonia's current political culture.

"On top of that, recent years have seen a marked tendency of politics and politicians becoming too dominant in our society, and this is a bad direction," Nõgene continued. "I believe politics shouldn't be as perceptible in society as it is today due to the political culture that has evolved. This only divides and exhausts society."

From 2007-2012, Paavo Nõgene worked as director of Theater Vanemuine in Tartu, before serving from 2013-2018 as secretary general of the Ministry of Culture. On May 1, 2018, he took over as CEO of Tallink Grupp.

As of Wednesday, August 16, the coalition Reform Party has 10,406 registered members, making it the second largest party in Estonia by membership. Flanking it are the opposition Center Party as Estonia's biggest political party with 13,185 members and the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) as third largest with 10,048 members.

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