Jürgen Ligi: I won't put my name to the Tallinn coalition agreement
Reform Party Tallinn city councilor Jürgen Ligi has said he would not be signing the Tallinn coalition agreement his party has concluded with the Social Democrats (SDE), Eesti 200 and Isamaa, on the grounds that the leader of the latter party has unduly interfered in the process.
In a post issued on his social media late on Friday night, Ligi wrote: "I will certainly not be putting my name to any Tallinn coalition agreement which rewards [Isamaa chair Urmas] Reinsalu's hypocrisy."
Reinsalu, a former foreign minister, has been Isamaa chair since last summer but does not sit at Tallinn city council.
Ligi, a former finance minister, added that discussions over the voting rights of Russian citizens in Estonia being a component of the Tallinn negotiations should have been ruled out from the outset.
"Just as no local government can alter the Constitution, electoral law or dictate these to Toompea, no party leader who is not a member of the Tallinn City Council should interfere with local power," he added.
Ligi wrote that his party's leadership does not discuss local coalitions, and if any other party's local branch does so, the media should call them out.
It is inconceivable at the national level that local power, based on the results of local elections, be confirmed by the party's central organs, Ligi added.
Ligi directly referenced voting rights as they pertain to Russian citizens resident in Estonia, rather than using the term "third country nationals," as Isamaa's lead negotiator, Riina Solman, had done.
The concern here is that Russian and Belarusian nationals who are ordinarily resident in Estonia and so have the right to vote in local elections here, would skew the results or vote for parties or candidates not acting in Estonia's best interests.
On the other hand, stripping third country nationals of their voting rights would mean those from other countries resident in Estonia who are not EU citizens, such as UK and US nationals, would lose their right to vote in local elections also.
The change would arguably also require an amendment to the Constitution.
The Reform-SDE-Isamaa-Eesti 200 Tallinn coalition agreement, which will include the name of the next mayor and their deputies, is due to be unveiled tomorrow, Sunday.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino
