Toom and Prime Minister Jüri Ratas’ wing of the party had been in negotiations for about a week. The question was whether or not Toom and other party members, first and foremost MP and borough elder in Tallinn Olga Ivanova, would run on a list of their own in the local elections.

“The talks lasted a little over a week. We have a decision, but unfortunately the decision is not collective,” Toom said, adding that she’ll stay with the party for the election.

Toom apparently had a last-minute change of heart: “Yesterday we parted knowing that we will have our own list, but by the morning I decided that I’ll stay,” Toom said in a press conference on Friday.

They had considered plenty of different aspects of the situation. “I’m not happy with many things that the Center Party has done in this government. We have held pretty serious talks, talked with Jüri Ratas, Kadri Simson, and Mihhail Kõlvart on several occasions, and I believe that change is possible,” Toom said.

Another reason was that she didn’t see a scenario happening in which the independent list as discussed with Ivanova could win the election, she added.

Deputy chairman of the party and minister of economic affairs, Kadri Simson, said on Friday that the talks had been “very good” and that they contributed to people understanding each other.

“The Center Party is in a new place, in the government. We can carry out our platform, but this doesn’t mean that we are about to change it,” Simson said.

According to Simson, the talks mainly concerned Tallinn. Toom and her supporters had plenty of good ideas that would be included in the election platform. “I believe that as we’re in a place where the Center Party’s support is growing, it’s reasonable to proceed together," Simson added.