Center MP: The prime minister's apology was not sincere

Riigikogu member Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart stated on ERR's "Otse uudistemajast" webcast that the prime minister should apologize to the Estonian people who watched the parliamentary question-and-answer session for his use of the words, "It's hard to be stupid."
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart (Center) commented that the phrase "It's hard to be stupid," used by the prime minister, was not about her personally or how she perceived it, nor about what Kristen Michal thinks of her.
"The issue is more about his attitude toward the Riigikogu, its members and also toward the people who watch the question-and-answer session, whether they followed it live on television or caught the video later," Kovalenko-Kõlvart said.
"This kind of attitude has been repeated several times now. One example is during the question-and-answer sessions, where responses are dismissive — I'm not even referring to that specific remark. Another example is not attending special committee meetings and referring to them as mere theatrics," she added.
For Kovalenko-Kõlvart, the main problem lies in the dismissive answers, or lack thereof, she receives when asking substantive questions — whether about the rule of law, issues regarding Keit Kasemets or matters related to state-owned airline Nordica.
"I personally believe that if the prime minister had the stature of a statesman, he would honestly admit that he made such a remark, acknowledge that it was a mistake or happened accidentally and issue a sincere apology. There is no need to apologize to me personally, but an apology is owed to the Estonian people, because, unfortunately, they had to witness this," said Kovalenko-Kõlvart.
She also noted that the entire question-and-answer session in question had been rather unpleasant.
Kristen Michal, leader of the Reform Party and the prime minister, apologized during the Riigikogu's question-and-answer session last Wednesday. The apology followed his comment, "It's hard to be stupid," which was picked up by the microphone after responding to Kovalenko-Kõlvart's question about changes to the qualifications for the secretary of state position.
At a government press conference last week, Michal clarified that the comment was directed at Minister of Regional Affairs Vladimir Svet in the context of a general topic. "It's hard to be stupid — it's just a universal fact of life," Michal said.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Marcus Turovski