According to Chair of the Riigikogu's Constitutional Affairs Committee Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200), the committee proposed that the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution be put to the plenary for a third reading on  March 26.

"As a second decision, we made a proposal to the plenary to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency," Terras said.

Members of the Riigikogu have put forward two different amendments to the draft constitution in time for the required deadline, with the committee deciding to support both. Terras explained that this means the final decision regarding which of the two amendments to adopt comes down to the plenary session of the Riigikogu.

The draft constitutional amendment act, initiated by 61 members of the Riigikogu, originally stipulated that Estonian citizens and stateless persons, as well as citizens of EU and NATO countries, could participate in local elections.

At present, in addition to Estonian and EU citizens, aliens residing in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit or permanent right of residence, who have reached the age of 16 by the day of the election and whose permanent place of residence is in the municipality or town concerned, can also participate in local elections.

One of the amendments, put forward by 55 Riigikogu MPs, would remove the rights of third-country nationals residing in Estonia and, from the next elections onwards, stateless persons too, to vote in local elections. In this year's local elections, non-citizens would still be able to vote, according to this amendment. The MPs advocating for this amendment say it would give stateless persons sufficient time to apply for Estonian citizenship if they so wish and to also participate in the next local elections as Estonian citizens.

The second amendment, tabled by 26 Riigikogu MPs, would repeal the right to vote of both third-country nationals and stateless persons living in Estonia starting with this year's local elections. As a result of that amendment, only Estonian and EU citizens would be able to participate in local elections.

At the third reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution in the plenary session of the Riigikogu, a representative of the Constitutional Affairs Committee will make a presentation. After that, there will be a question-and-answer session, with representatives of the different political groups able to take part in the negotiations. The amendments to the draft will then be examined and a decision taken on how to amend the Constitution.

A four-fifths majority is required for a decision to treat a draft constitutional amendment as urgent. This means that at least four times as many MPs have to vote in favor of an urgent constitutional amendment as those voting against it.

If the method of amending the Constitution receives the required majority of votes, the Riigikogu will decide to pass the bill as an act. A two-thirds majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 68 votes, will be needed for the bill to amend the Constitution to be passed.

If none of the two votes – on the method of amending the Constitution, or passing the bill – receives the required majority of votes, the Bill on Amendments to the Constitution is deemed to have been rejected and will be dropped from the proceedings.

The next local elections in Estonia are set to take place on October 19.

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