The Reform Party has managed to increase its influence both on Toompea Hill and in Tallinn, meaning that coalition partners will be paid increasingly little heed, while the opposition will be ignored altogether. Infighting at the Center Party and EKRE has contributed to this development, keeping both forces from paying enough attention to the opposition's tasks.

Kõlvart and Madison as a red rag to Reinsalu

Isamaa seems to come in at the other end of the scale, as every meaningful development needs to be run past the chairman. While this makes sense on one hand, it will come to hinder things taking their natural course after a while. One cannot help but feel that the thing Urmas Reinsalu most took issue with regarding Kõlvart and Madison's proposal was the fact the initiative did not come from him.

Isamaa is undoubtedly enjoying its pole position in the polls (after teetering on the verge of the election threshold just a few years ago) as it can feel like the opposition leader and steer clear of anything that might tarnish that image.

That said, Isamaa's rhetoric of serious problems with democracy sounds a little hollow in a situation where the party has levers with which to shake the coalition on Toompea out of its complacency. Namely, its involvement in the ruling coalition in Tallinn. While it's all well and good to talk about how the state and municipal levels are different, hardly anyone sees it that way in the case of Tallinn.

The Tallinn City Government has become very dear for all sides to the Toompea coalition, if only because ruling in the capital comes with a host of high-paying jobs one can fill with one's people. It is also much easier going into local elections from a position of power.

Based on this, we can recommend a course of action with the potential to both promote democracy and put pressure on the Toompea coalition. All Urmas Reinsalu would have to do is make peace in Tallinn conditional on the triumvirate coalition's (Reform, SDE and Eesti 200 – ed.) conduct at the central government level. It should not be mistaken for an unimportant aspect, as the people holding down jobs in Tallinn have no plans of leaving them any time soon. Pressure from influential party members can work wonders.

Will Isamaa find the courage to stand up straight?

In truth, Isamaa tied the capital's issues to nationwide ones back when the Tallinn coalition was first being formed (by calling for the revocation of the voting rights of aggressor state's citizens), even though it backed down at the end. While much was made of it in the media, the way things turned out revealed that access to the municipal authority soon outweighed looking good on camera.

This is very likely the reason behind Isamaa's Toompea opposition politics. While the party has a lever with which to shake up the status quo, they're reluctant to use it. This sees Isamaa apply the brakes also to the formation of a united and strong opposition as the latter would sooner or later conclude that Tallinn is the best place for putting pressure on the central government. Isamaa won't take that risk.

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