At its meeting on Friday last week, the board of Eesti 200 decided to expel Züleyxa Izmailova from the party on the grounds that she had repeatedly violated the principles laid down in the party's constitution.

Izmailova described the events as follows. "It was Tuesday last week when the public meeting of the Riigikogu's environmental committee was held and broadcast, and the main issue was the debate on the content of the draft support for the construction of a nuclear power plant. Since it was a public meeting, I went there in advance and informed the chair of the committee, Igor Taro. I had questions for the rapporteurs, but unfortunately the head of the committee decided to use his right not to allow me to ask questions," she said.

"What I have learned afterwards is that Igor Taro's style of chairing this committee is such that he does not give the right to ask questions to anyone other than those he has invited and the members of the committee. The chairs of several other Riigikogu committees have reassured me that there is no such procedure in place, contrary to the environment committee chair's claim at the time that it's impossible to ask a question as an MP from outside the committee. The head of the committee specifically decides whether or not to allow questions. In this case, it wasn't," Izmailova said.

Izmailova said that her questions had been prompted by presentations by the authors of the final report on nuclear energy, representatives of Fermi Energy, and representatives of various environmental organizations, but that Taro had forbidden questions just in case.

No support for a nuclear power plant at present

Anvar Samost, the program's host, asked Izmailova if she did not support the construction of a nuclear power plant in Estonia. "In this case, I see that it is being rushed, yes," she said.

"As a country, we have taken on tasks specifically related to energy and how to make the transition to renewable energy, and these are very ambitious goals. As you know, we have made very slow progress in our energy policy so far, and if we go down a different path, the resources we need, which are already scarce, will be allocated to even more diverse issues. It also threatens our climate goals," Izmailova said.

Izmailova said that a number of experts also agree that building a nuclear power plant in Estonia does not make economic sense. She is also concerned about the activities and waste associated with building a nuclear power plant.

Confusion over the chair of the environment committee

On June 2 last year, Eesti 200 announced the election of Izmailova as head of the environmental committee of the Riigikogu. Simultaneously, the Environment Ministry launched a misdemeanor investigation against Tarmo Tamm, the previous head of the Environment Committee.

The party issued a press release where Marek Reinaas justified Izmailova's appointment as the head of the committee, citing the Tamm procedure. The press release stated that the party planned to confirm Izmailova's leadership a few days later, on June 5. However, on June 13, Reinaas said that there was still no full support for Izmailova in the parliamentary group and that Tamm would continue as head of the committee.

Izmailova remembered that she had a conversation with then-vice chair Margus Tsahkna about assuming the role of chair of the environment committee just 20 minutes prior to the distribution of the press release.

"The group also met to discuss the issue after the press release. I had already spoken with the current leader of the party, who was in Ukraine at the time and contacted me. We came to an agreement and I expressed my willingness to take on this responsibility and chair the committee. There was also a debate about it later in the group. Members of the group were able to ask me questions, and we discussed what this work might look like in the future. They wished me strength for my work, and so it went. What happened after that is already history," Izimalova said.

She pointed out that the decision to continue with Tamm as chair of the environment committee was not taken by the group. Nor was it decided within the group to elect him as chair of the environment committee, Izmailova said.

Izmailova said that such decisions should be the result of internal debate and selection in parliament, regardless of party.

There are problems with internal democracy

Izmailova said the decision by a majority of the board to expel her was a sign of problems with the party's internal democracy. "This has been pointed out by other party members in the past. It is also a major values conflict I believe in," Izmailova said.

"I am an advocate of open and inclusive governance, and these are the same values that the Eesti 200 carries in its program and statutes," she said.

According to Izmailova, five members of the party's board voted for her expulsion, but they did not include, for example, Alexei Yashin and the party's deputy leaders, Kristina Kallas and Hendrik Terras.

"I was accused, in rather general terms, of damaging the party's image and going against some of its values by expressing my dissatisfaction with some of its processes," Izmailova said.

Izmailova agreed with Samost that the party's circle of decision-makers includes, among others, party leader Margus Tsahkna and faction leader Marek Reinaas. "I think that Marek Reinaas has really played a bigger role in the party than it appears in public," Izmailova said.

"It is clear that certain decisions were made elsewhere and then merely formalized later," she said.

Eesti 200 has lost focus

When she joined the party, Izmailova said that Eesti 200 was a progressive, forward-looking, open, pro-Estonian party.

"After securing its victory in parlamentary elections, the party has lost its focus. Today, we hear the leader of a party with an ostensibly liberal outlook say that, if it gets into the European Parliament, Eesti 200 should join the much more conservative EPP Group. This position, by the way, has not been agreed upon by the party's general assembly. I don't know what that world view is today. I am guided by the program and the statutes," Izmailova said.

"As far as the leadership of the party is concerned, I do see today that the leadership has let down not only the members of the party but actually the voters. The current support also indicates this," she said.

For example, the party has deviated from its program on environmental issues, Izmailova said.

Speaking about her future, Izmailova said that she has no plans to leave parliament, but whether she will join a political party, she has not yet decided.

"I'm in no rush before the European elections. I have time to think; I'm leaning towards becoming a non-attached member. Remaining in the Eesti 200 seems to me quite impossible in the current circumstances," Izmailova said.

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