EKRE obstructs Riigikogu's car tax bill discussion with loud noise
On Wednesday, the EKRE faction disrupted the Riigikogu's first reading of the vehicle tax bill with loud noise.
During the discussion of the draft bill, a loud noise was played in the hall while Minister of Finance Mart Võrklaev (Reform) spoke to try and disrupt proceedings. MPs also struggled to ask the minister questions.
EKRE MP Aarne Mäe told ERR the action was planned to disrupt the debate and a portable speaker was used to amplify the sound.
EKRE chairman Martin Helme had a microphone in one pocket and a speaker in the other in the Riigikogu. "I guess in the fifth grade they teach in physics that if you put the microphone too close to the speaker, it will make a terrible sound," he said.
Additionally, Kalle Grünthal, a former EKRE member, also refused to step down from the podium to block Võrklaev.
Riigikogu Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi (Reform) request both Helme and later Helir-Valdor Seeder, chairman of the Isamaa faction, to call Grünthal to order.
Helme said the party's only option is to protest.
"We have come to a situation, following today's Supreme Court ruling, where the opposition in Estonia has actually been deprived of all means to influence the legislative process. We are no longer able to influence the process using amendments, because the Supreme Court has said that, in essence, it is the coalition that decides what is and what is not obstruction," the EKRE chairman said.
Helme said its MPs were protesting over several issues.
"How did this land tax come here, how did the committee break the rules again, how did the board of the Riigikogu break the rules," he said. "But I did not have the heart to prevent other opposition MPs from asking questions to ask."
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Madis Hndre, Helen Wright