When Estonia's current governing coalition was agreed, Eesti 200 had 14 seats in the Riigikogu, while the SDE had nine. For that reason, the former were given slightly more of the key government roles. Eesti 200 took up four committee chair roles, three ministerial posts and the Riigikogu speaker position. The SDE have three committee chairs and three government ministers.

Now however, the balance of power has changed. The SDE now have 14 Riigikogu MPs, while Eesti 200 have 13. And this could play an important role when it comes to the new coalition agreement.

"It is a well-established Estonian parliamentary practice that the second largest coalition party is also given responsibility for the role of Riigikogu speaker," said Priit Lomp, leader of the SDE's Riigikogu group. "Indeed, I have asked my party chair to inform his partners that we will certainly be discuss this issue of personalities."

SDE party chair and current Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets, had already suggested at the beginning of the week that the distribution of important posts ought to be reviewed. Priit Lomp stressed that the outcome of such discussions would, however, ultimately be determined in the coalition agreement.

"However, as leader of the (SDE's) Riigikogu group, I must also make sure that the group, which is indeed larger today than that of our third coalition partner, is represented appropriately at every level with," Lomp said.

For the Eesti 200, losing the Riigikogu Speaker role would be a significant blow.  After all, Lauri Hussar stepped down as party leader last year with a desire to devote all his energy to being Riigikogu speaker.

"I think that at this point in time, certainly the position of Riigikogu speaker is not at all the subject of the coalition negotiations and I don't think it's an issue that should be discussed at all at this point in time.," said Marek Reinaas, vice-chair of Eesti 200's Riigikogu group.

Reinaas  stressed that Lauri Hussar will remain as Riigikogu speaker until at least the point when the next regular elections for the position are scheduled to take place next April. "We could return to this issue then, of whether he will continue as Riigikogu speaker. However, at the moment it is not an issue," Reinaas reiterated.

Priit Lomp said that for the SDE too, other more substantive issues are currently being given more attention than the distribution of different positions. Lomp also pointed out that a reshuffle does not have to mean a change of Riigikogu speaker.

"Whether we end up getting a few ministerial posts that are important for the SDE, the chair of a Riigikogu committee, or the Riigikogu speaker, is something that will be left until the day of the negotiations, when the issues of personnel will really be discussed," Lomp said.

However, Lomp is convinced that if the coalition partners do agree to replace the Riigikogu speaker, the decision should not wait until April, but should happen this fall.

"Well, we have seen here with various positions that if it is known that someone is moving to another position, that does not bode too well for the future of their work," Lomp said.

Marek Reinaas added that as things stand, it remains unclear how the coalition talks will end in any case.

"I do believe that the Reform Party, which will obviously continue to be the party of the prime minister, has the possibility to form coalitions in such a way  whereby some parties that are not part of the current coalition are included. I am thinking about Isamaa. So, I don't know how these negotiations will end," Reinaas said, adding that a coalition of the Reform Party, Isamaa and Eesti 200 could not be ruled out at this stage.

In any case, before a new coalition agreement can be reached, the Riigikogu will have to elect a second deputy speaker. Or rather, the resignation of Jüri Ratas (Isamaa), who is moving to take up a seat in the European Parliament, will necessitate the election of two new deputy speakers. Priit Lomp said that if current deputy speaker Toomas Kivimägi wants to continue in his role, the SDE would certainly support him.

EKRE chair Martin Helme told ERR on June 20 that he believes his party colleague Arvo Aller could be a good for the deputy speaker role. However, Helir-Valdor Seeder, the leader of Isamaa's Riigikogu group, said that any previous rules, written or unwritten, about who the role traditionally ought to go to would no longer be automatically followed.

According to Seeder, the election of a deputy speaker has not yet been discussed among Isamaa's Riigikogu group, or between the different opposition parties. "It is likely to be a difficult process to reach an agreement," Seeder said. "I don't remember a time when the opposition in the Riigikogu was so fragmented between different groups and individuals."

There are currently 11 members in EKRE's Riigikogu group, nine in Isamaa's, while soon there will be seven in the Center Party's.

In addition, there are also nine independent Riigikogu MPs. Three of the politicians who recently left EKRE are now members of the newly-formed Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK), while a further two have not yet joined another party. Kalle Grünthal, who left EKRE last fall, is still going it alone, as are Tõnis Mölder, Enn Eesmaa and Kersti Sarapuu.

"So it's certainly not a cohesive group. That's how diverse today's opposition is, and nothing has been negotiated or agreed at the moment," Seeder said.

In addition to the election of deputy chairs, a vote on the much-discussed car tax is also planned for the extraordinary session on July 15. As things stand, the coalition parties have agreed that the bill, which was rejected by the President Alar Karis, will not be re-adopted without first being amended. This means that the bill will most likely be passed to the Riigikogu's Finance Committee before returning for a second reading in the fall.

Priit Lomp suggests that a third item could also be added to the agenda for July 15. Namely that Kaja Kallas (Reform) could use this session to inform the Riigikogu of her resignation as PM.

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