I do not say this with a sense of gloating, but with one of regret. In no way do I fit into Kristen Michal's government; I cannot deceive myself, Michal, or the Estonian people by doing so.

In fact, I recommend the prime minister resign amid the current confusion.

A couple of weeks ago, I put forward a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Kristen Michal.

The failure of Michal's government — albeit for entirely different reasons than mine — has now been acknowledged by representatives of all three coalition parties.

They have proved unable to make decisions, they pursue anti-economic policies, they have lost the public's trust, and lack leadership.

Unfortunately, these are the conclusions drawn from the self-assessment of Estonia's political leadership itself.

At the epicenter of all this confusion is the prime minister, who, upon taking office, promised stability, an end to tax hikes, needed decisions in the field of security, and a cutting of government expenses and bureaucracy.

The reality, however, has been quite the reverse.

Let me call to mind a few examples:

1. 1. The climate law initiated by the prime minister is a pitiful, bureaucratic, and planned-economy-style project, which he himself most likely finds cringe-making even now.
2. The failure of the energy sector development plan, put together at the prime minister's initiative, has been confirmed by feedback from stakeholders.
3. The prime minister's attempt to introduce a subsidy-based economy within the energy sector and to push through an offshore wind farm project and its whiff of corruption. Alas, the prime minister lied on the decisions being based on substantive quality assessments, and was miserably caught out, as evidenced by the testimony of ministers.
4. The completely unjustified imposition of Europe's more radical climate targets, against which business organizations protested, but in vain.
5. At the prime minister's personal request (when he was acting as head of the climate ministry he created), the doubling of the car tax burden, in connection with the green transition goals.
6. At the prime minister's personal behest, the introduction of a temporary industrial environmental permit system which serves to worsen investment security, and has been found to be unconstitutional.
7. The prime minister's waste reform initiative, which, according to circular economy companies' assessments this week, will increase taxes, expand bureaucracy, and hike food prices.
8. Pressuring officials to inject money into Nordica, which was already on the verge of bankruptcy, and then giving misleading statements about that afterward.
9. Inability to corral government work: Michal's government only got its work plan last month.
10. Continuing with an opaque budget, despite promises to the public to the contrary, while blatantly lying that governance costs are decreasing when, in reality, they are rising by €155 million this year.
11. Continuing to create bureaucratic red tape at an accelerating pace. For example, last autumn, the government imposed an additional €30 million sustainability reporting burden on business, whose postponement industry associations are now requesting.
    The irony is that, at this week's government meeting, which was preceded by a discussion on the issue of registering broiler chicken, the government, at the insistence of a Reform Party minister, decided to send to the Riigikogu a bill on gender quotas for the supervisory boards of publicly listed companies.
12. In the wider sense, this reflects a fundamental incapacity to implement policy, and a failure to distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant.

The prime minister has time and again related an anecdote about a violinist in Kuressaare who had to apply for a permit for an open-air concert but which was impractical, giving his assurance that under his leadership, this kind of bureaucratic red tape had been eliminated.

Even this small example turned out to be a falsehood.

The government has failed to provide any relevant response to the demographic crisis; on the contrary, under the demands of the Reform Party's Minister of Social Security, a series of decisions have been made that experts say undermine families' sense of security.

Similarly, the prime minister has been passively observing the chaos caused by his internal party rival in the field of national defense, at the Ministry of Defense.
Unfortunately, the government has been systematically incapable of acquiring critically needed capabilities for the Estonian Defense Forces as based on the recommendations of the commander of the defense forces.

This context also takes in the tax fiasco, in the course of which the corporate income tax system is being dismantled, and people's real incomes are being diminished.

This is a striking example of an inability to grasp the consequences of one's own actions.

The claim that this money is being allocated to national defense turns a foolish policy into a dishonest one too.

The distinction between what is important and what is trivial is illustrated by this comical example: The prime minister chose to go on vacation instead of attending a video meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

While he did issue a dramatic statement from that vacation, it was not about European security but rather about the registration of broiler chickens.

There are many serious issues, and they come at the cost of a real decline in our quality of life, a lack of trust within society, and wasted time on critical issues in security and the economy.

On Friday, Prime Minister Michal sarcastically asked whether Reinsalu cares about Estonia at all, and whether he even would want to be in his government.
Indeed, the expulsion of the Social Democrats can only be a matter of days away.

Unfortunately, so in doing, the prime minister is also jeopardizing constitutional amendments, all of which sadly reflects the quality of his decisions.
He could have just waited a month to carry out his political maneuver.

Yes, I do care about Estonia, Prime Minister Michal.

Precisely for this reason, I cannot, in good conscience and based on my understanding of Estonia's current situation, imagine myself as a part of your government, or as a supporter of your policies.

There is no trust there — it really comes down to that — because, sadly, you have failed as a prime minister.

Plus, your party has also failed with its policies, across two consecutive administrations now.

I say this not to gloat, but with regret.

Do you remember when you took office? I wished you every success because if the government succeeds, the whole country is better off.

Unfortunately, reality has turned out very differently, and there is no getting away from that.

Political intrigue among the ruling parties right in the midst of a European security crisis is a symptom of internal confusion within the political leadership, not the cause or, even less than that, the solution to the country's progress.

As can be seen from my statements above, I have no place in Michal's government. I cannot deceive myself, Michal, or the Estonian people by saying otherwise.

My advice is that the prime minister resign, given the turmoil going on right now.

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