Ratas to run for second Riigikogu vice president next to EKRE candidate
Parties that make up the Riigikogu opposition failed to agree on a common candidate for Thursday's Board of the Riigikogu elections, which will see Isamaa's Jüri Ratas go up against an unnamed candidate of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE).
Ratas told ERR that he will run for the post of the second vice speaker of the Estonian parliament.
"Yes, we discussed it in the group today. And my answer is that I indeed plan to run," the politician said Monday.
EKRE MP Mart Helme said that while the party also plans to set up a candidate for the position, it is too soon to reveal who it will be. He said, however, that it will not be party leader Martin Helme.
MP Rain Epler said that he will also not be running for EKRE. Mart Helme suggested there are signals to suggest the Center Party might back their candidate, as well as that EKRE will not set up a candidate for the post of Riigikogu president.
The Center Party's Andrei Korobeinik said the party will back EKRE's choice.
The coalition agreement gives Eesti 200 the position of Riigikogu president, while the Reform Party is entitled to the post of the first vice president. The second vice president has traditionally been the choice of the opposition.
Eesti 200 whip Toomas Uibo said that current President of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar will seek to remain in office.
Reform's Toomas Kivimägi has confirmed seeking an extension of his role as the first vice president too.
The three-way alliance of the Reform Party, Eesti 200 and the Social Democratic Party (SDE) has 65 votes in the 101-member Riigikogu, following several MPs switching parties recently, which also gives it a say in the election of the second vice president.
The Center Party and EKRE have 22 seats between them in the parliament, while Isamaa's group includes eight of the party's MPs but can likely also count on the votes of Jüri Ratas and Jaanus Karilaid who recently defected from Center.
Jevgeni Ossinovski, head of SDE's Riigikogu group, told ERR that Isamaa has approached them to ask whether they would back Ratas.
Ossinovski said that the matter has not been discussed yet and that it's likely the coalition will be united in its decision.
Uibo also said that while consultations with partners are in order, there is no reason not to trust Ratas with the position.
The Board of the Riigikogu, made up of the president of the Riigikogu and two vice presidents, will be elected in two rounds on April 4. The first round will see the speaker elected, while the deputy speakers will be picked in the second. The vote is by secret ballot.
The article was amended to update the position of the Center Party.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
