Kristina Kallas to run for Eesti 200 party chair role
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas, who is currently one of two vice-chairs of Eesti 200, has decided to run for the position of party chair. The party's other vice-chair, Hendrik Terras, has also announced his candidacy for the role.
"Today, I announced to the party members that I will run for party chair at the upcoming general assembly. I did so with an explanation of why the general assembly is to be held on August 31 and what plans we need to make for it," Kallas told ERR.
"A political party with a vision like Eesti 200 is urgently needed in the Estonian political landscape. Both in a liberal and, in fact, economic sense. And (there are) major tasks that we still face in the Estonian state and government, the biggest of which is to put public finances on a sustainable course. In order to drive such changes, we still need a political party like Eesti 200 in Estonia. So, I am prepared to take on this responsibility and drive it forward," Kallas said.
Kallas added that she was surprised that fellow Eesti 200 vice-chair Hendrik Terras had collected signatures from party members in order to bring the next extraordinary general assembly forward from August 31 to July 7.
"I heard it yesterday from a couple of members who Hendrik had called and asked to put their signatures there. It came as a surprise," Kallas said.
"There's no way we can organize it on July 7, because we don't have all the ministers in the country then Margus (Tsahkna – current party chair and Minister of Foreign Affairs – ed.) has a NATO summit. I also have an education summit in Germany, where I have to represent Estonia," Kallas said.
According to Eesti 200's party statute, 10 percent of members have the right to call for a general assembly.
Kallas explained that this requires a petition to be presented to the party's executive board. On the basis of that, the board can decide when to hold the general assembly. "However, since the leadership has already called an extraordinary general assembly, what Hendrik's request means is a bit confusing at the moment," Kallas said.
A few days ago, Hendrik Terras initiated an internal petition calling for the organization of an Eesti 200 extraordinary general assembly on 7 July 7. As things stand, an assembly is planned for the end of August, with Terras expected to run for the role of party chair. Terras had collected 115 signatures by Tuesday morning.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Michael Cole
