Taro told ERR’s radio news on Monday that doing something for the local community was more important in local elections than to think about party politics, and that was why he decided to run as an independent.

Taro said that conversations he had with locals had helped him make up his mind. “People told me that they want to work on the future of Põlva County, but not get involved in party politics,” he said.

He added that there still was the problem that in a lot of rural municipalities a single party ruled, and that people hesitated to go against the local municipal mayor. All parties were struggling with a certain lack of trust.

IRL’s secretary general Priit Sibul hasn’t criticized the decision, even though Taro’s decision means that the party is left without an official list in the area.

“There’s no point turning this into a tragedy. There are people running on independent lists in other parties as well,” Sibul said.

While IRL and also the Free Party have made it clear that they are open to working with independent lists, others have made it at least as clear that they won’t. Secretary general of the Reform Party, Tõnis Kõiv, lately let party members know that anyone eventually putting together their own list would be thrown out.