Over the past week, the Reform Party has criticized the actions of its government coalition partners the SDE.

On Friday, Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) criticized Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Piret Hartman (SDE) on social media for wanting to introduce additional restrictions for food donation.

"When we formed the government, there was an agreement – simpler, faster, less bureaucracy, a leaner, more austere state. A new idea every month, with new taxes and new requirements, that's not the way we're going. Something has to change. It would help," Michal said.

The extent to which bureaucracy will increase remains is not entirely clear from the specific initiative. Hartman says bureaucracy ought to be reduced, while the Food Bank say current rules are not being met anyway. However, it does appear to follow a pattern whereby new ideas for regulations and more red tape have come from the SDE while in government.

At a government press conference on Thursday, Eesti 200 leader and Minister of Education Kristina Kallas said the SDE would not do the things agreed to in the coalition, but are holding back initiatives and creating new regulations.

"For example, the proposal from the Minister of Health to introduce additional training requirements for nail technicians is currently on the table of ministers. I have made it very clear that I do not see the need for such regulations in the current situation. We do not have a problem that we would be solving with it and I, as a minister, will most likely not agree to this regulation," said Kallas.

"The question is where our priorities lie right now. We can declare that our priorities are the economy and security, but our actions also have to reflect these priorities," Kallas said.

Kallas also criticized the SDE for not having given their approval quickly enough to the government for a bill that would allow companies to bring third-country nationals to work in Estonia on lower wages.

The Eesti 200 leader referred to progress on the legalization of variable-hour employment contracts having stalled, which has come in for sharp criticism from trade unions.

Kallas was backed by Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo (Reform), who said bureaucracy ought to be cut and the coalition should move forward. "The coalition agreement provides the basis for how the government will operate and all three parties ought to follow this agreement," Riisalo said.

"However, we do have some concerns," Riisalo said. "In the context of issues regarding economic recovery and cutting red tape, decisions have been on hold. And that is certainly not good. So I very much hope that this discussion will also help the partners to understand that the deal is there to be fulfilled."

SDE ready for discussions

In response to the criticism from Kallas and Riisalo, Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Svet (SDE) said his party is ready to discuss these issues with the coalition partners, but behind closed doors. "I certainly not believe we will reach any agreements through the media," Svet said.

"This whole principle is that if we have an issue, we don't discuss it in the media. We don't throw out bold statements in press conferences here. Instead, we sit down and, figure out whether there is a problem. If there is a problem, we try to find the solution. And then we come out and say what we think about it," Svet said.

Kallas responded to Svet that it is still the minister's job not to rush through new regulations.

"Every day, new regulations prepared by officials arrive on the minister's desk. And in fact, it has been agreed in the coalition that ministers will dig deeper, land look at them. Their priority is to reduce regulations, not to introduce new ones. That is the principle we have agreed on," Kallas said.

Minister of Economy believes situation is work in progress

Minister of the Economy Erkki Keldo (Reform) said that no additional tensions had arisen within the government. Rather, the Social Democratic party simply have new ideas.

However, according to Keldo, this does not mean that the Reform Party has plans to give up on its coalition with the SDE.

"We would like to do the things that we promised, that all three of us agreed on. We would prefer to be able to move forward with them all together nicely," Keldo said.

"It just seems to me that either the original agreement has been forgotten over time here, or there have just been some work-related mishaps. I don't know. I cannot comment on these initiatives or proposals in front of them. But that there is no additional resentment or sense that things are not working, that's not the case, Keldo said.

Kiik also believes coalition can work

SDE Vice-chair Tanel Kiik said that although the Reform-Eesti 200-SDE coalition could count on 52 votes in the Riigikogu, it is not especially broad-based either in terms of outlook or the idea of societal support.

"The current coalition, let's be honest, is already concerned about the fact that its support base in society has been eroded due to the difficult times and difficult choices. Any changes in this case would further diminish that support for the government, rather than help to increase it," Kiik said.

Kiik also echoed the words of his party colleague Svet, in suggesting that issues like this should be dealt with privately and not through the media.

According to Kiik, the coalition's nervousness is largely due to its low ratings. "There is definitely cause for concern in this sense. I have always been among those politicians who in no way denies that political parties monitor ratings. Between elections, parties do look at what the feedback is from society," Kiik said.

"The question now is how the coalition will be able to regain that trust in society. This coalition started with quite a bit more popular support than it has today. Which is once again, undoubtedly a point to reflect on and a position from which to draw conclusions," said Kiik.

Reinsalu: Seems like SDE have started to dismantle the government

According to Isamaa Chair Urmas Reinsalu, from the outside, it appears that the Reform Party has started to remove the Social Democratic Party from the government.

"The reason for this seems to be an attempt to hold the SDE responsible for the government's loss of trust, mismanagement and poor policy choices. Of course, the SDE unequivocally bear co-responsibility for that. But nothing more," Reinsalu said.

"I don't know whether the trigger for the current perceived action is the government's inability to agree on billions for offshore wind farms (which the prime minister somehow considers more important than his party's reputation) or the alleged panic meeting among of Reform Party's Riigikogu group last week," he added.

According to Reinsalu, a number of journalists have already asked whether Isamaa would considered joining Michal's government in place of the SDE. The answer, he said, is a definite "no."

"Let's put this matter in perspective. We don't trust the current prime minister, and we think that instead of continuing, it would be more appropriate if he resigned. Let's look at the situation honestly. The continuation of the Reform Party's policies in government is, unfortunately, not a solution for Estonia, but a problem. It would be almost comical to imagine Isamaa as an extension of this policy, and there is no pretext for the Reform Party to change its policy fundamentally, even in today's coalition," Reinsalu said.

"Therefore, Isamaa is an alternative to the current Reform Party government, whether backed by the Social Democratic Party or not."

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