"The selection of ministers was such that there were candidates from outside the party. We spoke with them, but many declined. There was one very strong candidate who unfortunately had just found out she was expecting a child. That meant she would have had to step down from the position soon anyway. There were various such situations," Kallas admitted on Monday in an interview on "Terevisioon."

According to Kallas, there is no doubt that Igor Taro is a highly suitable candidate for the position of minister of the interior due to his experience. However, regarding the candidate for minister of regional and agricultural affairs, Hendrik Johannes Terras, Kallas admitted that they had a long discussion.

"He was initially unsure whether he could handle the agricultural sector. But since the regional minister also oversees public transport, including Elron trains and Saaremaa ferries, that is an area where energy is needed to get things in order. Our public transport development plan has been pending for a long time and we need to finally reach an agreement on it. It requires leadership and the energy of a young person in such a role will certainly be effective," Kallas said.

When asked whether there had been any mix-up between Taro's and Terras' ministerial portfolios, Kallas replied that ministers do not necessarily have to live in rural areas.

"For example, [former Regional Affairs Minister] Piret Hartman (SDE) certainly did not live in the countryside — she is a very typical city girl from central Tallinn. The claim that someone is unfit to be a minister due to their background is merely a political maneuver. I believe they are indeed suitable," she stated.

Speaking about the combined approval rating of the two governing coalition parties, which currently stands at around 20 percent — considered very low — Kallas admitted that those who claim ratings are unimportant are not telling the truth.

"Ratings reflect feedback on whether voters feel you are standing up for them or not. Of course, they matter. The move made by the prime minister was clearly driven by the fact that voters expected something different from what the government had been doing until now."

Kallas noted that voters had grown tired of the lengthy ideological debates within the previous government, which created confusion about what exactly the government stood for.

"This, in turn, caused uncertainty among people, as it seemed like the government was hesitant to make decisions. There was an expectation to end the arguing and start making decisions so that it would be clear where we are heading."

Kallas added that society also expects the state to become more efficient, which is why some initiatives from better economic times need to be discontinued. As an example, she pointed to the plan by former minister Piret Hartman to hire four regional special representatives for the Ministry of Regional Affairs.

"If the ministry already has 280 employees, why was there a need to hire four more? This was unclear both to the government and to the public."

However, Kallas does not support staff reductions simply for the sake of it, as the remaining work would still need to be redistributed, which would not necessarily lead to greater efficiency. Instead, she argued that the process should start with reducing regulations.

"If regulations are eliminated, so is the workload, and then we can talk about downsizing the civil service," said the Eesti 200 leader.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!