Isamaa leader calls for resignation of the PM and government

Isamaa Chair Urmas Reinsalu believes Prime Minister Kristen Michal and his government should resign. If Michal does not do so, Reinsalu said parliament would have grounds to pass a vote of no confidence in him.
Reinsalu said on social media that the government is falling apart from within at an accelerating pace. As an example, Reinsalu cited Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, who resigned last week after it emerged that a €70 million arms deal with Indian company Datasel had run into problems.
"Just a week earlier, Pevkur was adamant that he wasn't going anywhere, but then he quickly decided to resign. Given that the public has seen only the tip of the iceberg in this scandal, the real, immediate reason for his resignation has yet to emerge. There has been far too much obfuscation and concealment. The disorder in the administration of the Ministry of Defense's area of government shows that, unfortunately, the Reform Party has been incapable of managing national defense," Reinsalu said.
According to the Isamaa chair, the Reform Party's dire situation is also illustrated by the fact that, instead of appointing one of its own politicians, it is bringing in Martin Herem as defense minister. Herem himself stepped down early as commander of the Estonian Defense Forces while serving under Pevkur and has since been critical of decisions — as well as indecision — concerning national defense.
"Facing an internal dead end, they are handing responsibility ahead of the elections to an outsider who will not bear political responsibility. A separate issue is the government's dismissal of [Ministry of Defense] Permanent Secretary Kaimo Kuusk, with irreconcilable differences with the new minister [Herem — ed.] over the organization of national defense being cited as the reason," Reinsalu said.
Reinsalu said the public has a right to know what the differences between the two men are.
Reinsalu also pointed to news published Wednesday that Energy and Environment Minister Andres Sutt had decided to step down, saying Sutt would leave confusion in his wake.
"There is already talk of the next ministers who may leave. Ominously, Kuldar Leis has announced: 'I'm staying!' Hanno Pevkur used those exact same words a week ago," Reinsalu said.
According to the Isamaa chair, with only a few months to go before the elections, the Reform Party is trying to appoint people from outside politics in an effort to blur responsibility for what it has done and failed to do.
"The Coalition Party government did the same thing before its demise. This kind of internal turmoil means wasted time for Estonia. In this mess, it would make sense for Prime Minister Michal and his entire government to resign. If he does not do so, parliament has grounds to pass a vote of no confidence in him. If such a motion fails to win sufficient support, all MPs who fail to vote in support of the government will be responsible for allowing this mess to continue," Reinsalu said.
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Editor: Johanna Alvin, Marcus Turovski











