Political parties preparing to announce Tallinn mayoral candidates

Estonia's political parties are preparing for local elections in October. Tallinn's coalition believes local issues should be in focus, but the opposition sees the vote as a referendum on the government.
No party has officially announced its mayoral candidate for Tallinn yet, but it is already clear the race will include both the current Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) and the former mayor Mihhail Kõlvart (Center).
Reform may put forward Deputy Mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere. Eesti 200's candidate will likely be Aleksei Jašin if he is elected head of the party's Tallinn faction on Sunday. Isamaa and EKRE plan to announce their candidates in the summer.
Reform, Eesti 200, and the Social Democrats agree on the most important issues for the upcoming election: the transition to Estonian-language education and shaping Tallinn into a pro-Estonian, Western European-style capital.
"The question is how successfully the transition to Estonian-language education progresses. How high is the quality of preschools and schools close to home?" Jašin told Tuesday's "Aktuaalne kaamera."
Pere told the show: "Do we want the city to be business-friendly? Should it be possible to build here and thus maintain competitive real estate prices?"
"How do we develop public transport? The entire issue of mobility — when cars no longer fit on the roads, how can we provide alternatives?" Ossinovski said.
However, Center and Isamaa believe the local elections should be an opportunity for voters to evaluate the government's performance.
"All these tax increases that will take effect in the second half of the year and how they will impact the standard of living," said Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa).
"This will be the main motivator for people to participate in the elections," Kõlvart believes.
Mart Kallas, chairman of EKRE's faction in the city council, said a key issue should be making traffic more convenient for drivers.
"People drive to work and take care of business, and we cannot make driving inconvenient. For us, smooth traffic and ensuring that everyone has space in the city are essential," he said.
The local elections will take place in October.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Helen Wright
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera