The Riigikogu remains in a deadlock over whether Russian and Belarusian citizens will be stripped of their right to vote in Estonia's local government elections this fall or not. The fate of stateless persons' voting rights remains unresolved as well.

All of the country's parliamentary parties except Center and the Social Democratic Party (SDE) are prepared to support a so-called sunset clause. Under this clause, citizens of aggressor countries would already be barred from voting this fall, but stateless persons would still be allowed to vote. Following this fall's elections, however, stateless persons would be disenfranchised as well.

Both Isamaa chair and MP Urmas Reinsalu and Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) MP Evelin Poolamets stated that their parties are willing to support this sunset clause.

"We can't say for sure yet, because the ball is really in the Social Democrats' court, and they aren't giving any clear answers," Poolamets said. "They say that stateless people, non-citizens should still be included in the Constitution. But we all have one common goal — to get citizens of aggressor states out of the elections."

The amendment to the Constitution will be voted on in the Session Hall of the Riigikogu in two weeks. The most challenging part is not so much getting the necessary votes for the content of the bill, but for its format.

According to the Constitution, a resolution to consider a bill to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency requires a four-fifths majority of the Riigikogu to pass, in which case the law to amend the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of all 101 members of the Riigikogu to pass.

Constitutional Committee chair MP Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200) said that the Social Democrats do not have to vote against their beliefs; it would suffice if they agreed to consider a bill to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency.

"In order to decide this as a matter of urgency, i.e. within a single makeup [of the Riigikogu], we need a four-fifths majority of those MPs present in the hall," Terras explained.

"It's also possible for the Social Democrats to support this urgent review, but if they don't want to support the bill, they don't have to directly support it," he continued. "A two-thirds majority is needed for the bill to pass. It's a bit tricky, and there will be a two-step vote. But there is also the option that the vote won't fail because of them, but if it clashes with their worldview, they don't have to support the content [of the bill]. They just need to support the format."

Social Democrats not looking to budge

SDE MP Madis Kallas stated that their party is still clearly opposed to this plan. The Social Democrats still want stateless persons to retain their voting rights in the future.

"Yes, right now, we haven't even discussed this," Kallas said. "I don't see this coming up at the [party] board or parliamentary group level in the near future either."

If the Social Democrats stand their ground, their votes, along with those of the Center Party, will be enough to thwart the entire constitutional amendment process in the Riigikogu.

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