Mihhail Kõlvart steps aside to let Jana Toom take Center's MEP seat

Center Party chair and former Tallinn mayor Mihhail K'vart has announced that he will not be taking up the European Parliament seat he won at the recent elections, and will step aside in favor of Jana Toom to return as an MEP.
Toom won the second-largest votes total on June 9, while Kõlvart has stated earlier that he was prepared to run as a "vote catcher," though in that case he was referring to his predecessor as Center leader, Jüri Ratas, now an elected MEP with Isamaa.
Speaking at a party board meeting, Kõlvart explained his decision not to take up the seat.
"I feel it is my duty to lead the party from Estonia," he said.
"In my opinion, that would be a betrayal [of the party]. I've been thinking about this for a long time because naturally the trust granted to us by the voters also comes with obligations and responsibilities."
Kõlvart added that this had not been an easy choice for him personally, as the position of an MEP was a prestigious one, and comes with a good wage. "That cannot be the priority today however," he noted.
Jana Toom, Center's incumbent MEP and who received the second-highest number of votes within the party, will go to Brussels in Kõlvart's place.

The d'Hondt system of proportional representation in Estonia lends itself to parties running "vote magnet" candidates at the top of electoral lists, either with the aim of them passing on excess votes once they have clinched a seat to those lower on the list, or, as in this case, of stepping aside to give the seat to that next candidate.
Members of the national and municipal executive, the national legislature, and in the case of the Strasbourg parliament, local municipal councils, may not hold MEP seats so must make a choice.
At last Sunday's European Parliament elections, Mihhail Kõlvart polled at 27,000 votes, earning him one of the seven mandates on offer. Long-time MEP Jana, formerly Yana, Toom picked up 14,000 votes, not enough this time to secure a seat in her own right.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino