The governing coalition lost its parliamentary majority three weeks ago when Eesti 200's Kalev Stoicescu and Reform's Meelis Kiili left their respective parties. The next Riigikogu elections will take place in March 2027.

On Sunday, the most popular opposition party, Isamaa, published a statement calling for a vote of no confidence in the government

"Isamaa proposes that all Riigikogu parties and independent MPs begin consultations to hold new, early Riigikogu elections without delay, as provided for in the Constitution," the statement said. "To initiate this, it would be appropriate, in accordance with the Constitution, to express no confidence in Kristen Michal's government."

Isamaa claimed Estonia will only be able to move forward if the government resigns.

"New elections are the beginning of restoring trust and an opportunity for honest feedback from citizens and for defining expectations for the future," it wrote.

On Saturday, the Center Party also called for early elections. It said the coalition's inability to govern the country poses a security risk.

Party Chairman Mihhail Kõlvart said the National Audit Office's latest report about the problems in the defense sector is evidence of the government's systemic failure.

"The current government has used defense spending to justify both unexpected tax increases and allowing the state budget to fall deeply into deficit, as well as people's worsening ability to cope," Kõlvart said.

"Now shortcomings have come to light that no country can afford in the current security situation. The large-scale disorder in national defense endangers the security of the entire country. The resignation of a few officials or ministers is no longer enough. The entire government must resign, and early elections must be called," he continued.

Kõlvart also said the latest economic forecasts show the "government has no substantive plan for reviving the economy and bringing the national debt under control" and that problems also exist in the education, energy and social sectors.

"The current government does not solve crises but postpones them and communicates a prettier version of reality. This is not leadership," he said.

Kõlvart said solutions cannot wait until the Riigikogu elections in March because Estonia is losing valuable time and solving the problems will become even more difficult.

This week, EKRE's board decided to send an appeal to all members of parliament proposing that Michal's minority government be removed as soon as possible.

The appeal sent by party Chairman Martin Helme states that Michal's government has long since lost the support of the majority of society and has now also lost the support of the majority in the Riigikogu.

"Support for the coalition parties has for some time been languishing at around a dozen percent, which is unprecedented in Estonia's history and abnormal in a democratic system," he wrote.

Helme proposes two alternatives to the Reform Party and Eesti 200 governing coalition.

"First, we form a so-called interim government until the elections, involving all political forces except the Reform Party and Eesti 200 and including, as extensively as possible, experts who do not participate in day-to-day politics. Such a government cannot and must not make important decisions or decisions with long-term consequences, but has one simple task: to take the country to elections without abusing the instruments of executive power in the knowledge that there is nothing left to lose," Helme said.

The second option would be early elections.

"In a situation where parliament is deadlocked, decision-making must be handed over as quickly as possible to the bearer of supreme power, namely the people. EKRE is prepared to participate constructively and with the common national interest in mind in implementing either of the two proposed options," Helme said.

SDE does not support early elections

The only opposition party not to call for new elections is the Social Democratic Party (SDE).

On Sunday, Social Democratic Party Chairman Lauri Läänemets said that although the Social Democrats do not support the current governing coalition, they will not support a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.

He said this would mean missing out on an election debate about Estonia's future.

"If we hold early elections, then that election debate will not take place. Then it will become an election along the lines of 'either the Reform Party or EKREIKE', and the Social Democrats believe that Estonia does not need EKREIKE," he said, using the acronym for the previous EKRE-Isamaa-Center coalition (2019-2021).

"We should choose a new path for Estonia in the Riigikogu elections, and that is why we do not support early elections that would take place around Christmas, where there would be no time for an election debate and the choice would be made purely so that EKREIKE could come to power. We do not think that is sensible," Läänemets said.

This article was updated to add comments from Lauri Läänemets.

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