SDE, Reform block voting rights discussions from Tallinn coalition talks

At Tuesday's meeting, the six parliamentary parties did not agree on whether and how to withdraw voting rights from Russian and Belarusian residents in Estonia. However, the Social Democratic Party (SDE) and Reform said the issue must not be linked with the Tallinn coalition talks.
Opposition party Isamaa's Helir-Valdor Seeder told ERR no common ground was agreed at the meeting. The party will not start collecting support to change the constitution.
"There is no such readiness. It depends on all the political parties that are represented in the Riigikogu, how long they need to debate it. Today we did not reach any agreement on that," he said.
Isamaa has raised the issue at the coalition negotiations in Tallinn and made it a condition of any future agreement. Seeder said this was decided by the city council faction not the party's board.
"The final choices and decisions will be made by the board of the Tallinn region, but this does not mean that Tallinn and Toompea are two different worlds," he stated.

Seeder said the party has no red lines in the negotiations, and other parties should not have any either.
"No issue raised by one or other of the coalition parties in the negotiations should be thrown into the corner by us refusing to talk about it. This should not be the case with the formation of Tallinn City Council. One can talk about those things that are important for Tallinn, but what is decided at the level of the Parliament is not a kind of death mat if these issues are discussed," he said.
SDE: We cannot approve of ulterior motives to eliminate voter groups
SDE has ruled out any agreement on voting rights at the Tallinn negotiations.
Interior minister and Chairman Lauri Läänemets wrote on social media on Tuesday that national issues will not be solved at the discussions, today or in the future.
"Restricting the voting rights of Russian citizens in local elections is not a question of "for or against", but a question of what outcome we expect from this decision and whether we perceive all the risks. What Isamaa is currently doing is a threat to Estonia's security and a desire to perpetuate its power undemocratically. Although the negotiations on the formation of the Tallinn City Council have essentially come to an end, [Isamaa Chairman Urmas] Reinsalu's procrastination may, in the coming days, give the Center Party a historic opportunity," said Läänemets.

Läänemets said Isamaa's real aim is to get more support by eliminating a voter group. He said SDE will not support this.
"A recent study by Norstat showed that if only Estonian citizens had the right to vote, this would give three more seats to Isamaa, four to the Reform Party, two to the Social Democrats and one to the EKRE, and reduce the number of seats for the Centre Party by 10," the minister noted.
Leader of SDE's Tallinn faction Jevgeni Ossinovski confirmed the issue will not be discussed at the negotiations.
"We have consistently stated that the Tallinn City Council can not change the Estonian Constitution, and therefore linking these [issues] is not overly sensible. Of course, the discussions in the Riigikogu on the right to vote can be taken further, and both the opposition parties and some other parties are willing to take the matter further. But to say that it is not possible to go ahead with municipal policy issues in Tallinn because we need to agree on a constitutional amendment first, which will take a year anyway, does not seem appropriate to us," he said.
Reform: We will not accept such absurd conditions
Erkki Keldo, leader of the Riigikogu's Reform Party faction, said voting rights should not be discussed at the Tallinn talks.

"That Tallinn's so-called power is conditional on something being decided in the government or the constitution being changed – that is a bit absurd and ridiculous. It is the job of local government to deal with local issues. In Tallinn, the transition to Estonian-language education needs to be carried out, and Tallinn City Government needs to be put in order. The coalition will have its hands full. It would be very, very unfortunate if, because of such strange circumstances, Tallinn's power were to remain [unchanged]," said Keldo.
"I have spoken to my people, and the faction also said this morning that such absurd mix-ups should not and cannot be made, that we will certainly not accept it," he added.
Negotiations are due to end on Wednesday.
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Editor: Madis Hindre, Marko Tooming, Helen Wright