Legislation to revoke voting rights from third-country nationals passes first reading
The draft bill put forward by Estonia's governing coalition, which essentially seeks to remove the rights of citizens of aggressor states and most third-country nationals to vote in local elections, passed its first reading before the Riigikogu by 79 votes to seven.
Under the bill, holders of grey passports will retain the right to vote in local elections as will citizens from EU and NATO countries.
Isamaa and EKRE are both opposed to that aspect of the bill, though neither supported the Center Party's proposal to reject the draft.
"The Eesti 200 and Reform Party MPs acknowledge that they too would like to resolve the issue in a way whereby we do not give the Constitutional right to vote in local elections to stateless persons. Now, unfortunately, the Social Democratic Party have made this a condition and so the whole coalition is being held in this hostage crisis. I do not think that is dignified. In parliament, political forces should be free to make decisions as they see fit in the interests of Estonia, and the values of the Social Democrats cannot be the yardstick to represent the people," said Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu.
"In fact, they are opposites – the position of Isamaa and the position of the Social Democrats. Obviously, reaching a consensus there is difficult," said Riigikogu Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi (Reform).
"However, I think that in terms of certain wording, looking a little further ahead, I can still see possible points of compromise on which both parties could agree and be satisfied with it," Kivimägi added.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Michael Cole
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
