Center Party Riigikogu faction elects Lauri Laats as new chair

The Center Party's Riigikogu MPs have elected Lauri Laats as chief whip and Vadim Belobrovtsev as his deputy.
Laats himself said: "The Center Party faction has dealt well with the challenges caused by internal change, while our MPs stand for the party's values and the pledges made to voters."
Vadim Belobrovtsev said Center's political activity is highly visible in the Riigikogu and in local government, and increasingly speaks to all the people of Estonia.
Belobrovtsev said: "The Center Party offers stability in turbulent times and a balanced approach to acute issues. The Estonian state has been in economic recession for more than two years now, and it is clear that tax hikes brought in by the coalition offer no relief to the situation, but instead exacerbate existing problems. We are categorically opposed to government actions of this kind, and people around country sees this and are coming to put their trust in us, more and more."
Center's Riigikogu faction has been without a chief whip since the start of the year when former government minister Tanel Kiik quit the party for the Social Democrats (SDE).
Whereas the party had over 20 seats prior to the Riigikogu election a year and a day ago, this was reduced to 16 after that election and, following a wave of departures from September last year, now has six MPs at the 101-seat chamber.
The party is in office in Tallinn, in coalition with SDE. It was last in coalition at the national level down to June 2022, with the Reform Party.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Mirjam Mäekivi