Savisaar Election Coalition and Active Tallinn announces top candidates

The Savisaar Election Coalition and Active Tallinn on Monday announced its top candidates for the Oct. 15 local government elections in Tallinn.
The Savisaar Election Coalition and Active Tallinn's top candidate in Pirita is Tuuli Stewart; its top candidate in Haabersti is Jüri Mõis; its top candidate in Lasnamäe is Edgar Savisaar, followed by Olga Ivanova; its top candidate in Mustamäe is Mart Viisitamm and its top candidate in Nõmme is Heino Enden. Marek Kaleta is the coalition's number ne candidate for Kristiina and Reet Kudu has the top spot in Põhja-Tallinn.
Savisaar, who is himself suspended from the Office of the Mayor of Tallinn by court order and standing trial in an ongoing graft case, did not yet want to reveal the election coalition's mayoral candidate.
Coalition tight-lipped about future plans as well
Leaders of the coalition refused to be specific at Monday's press conference about their plans for the most distant future either, saying that they wanted to wait for the outcome of the elections first.
"The election results may give us a clue of some kind," said Jüri Mõis, former Tallinn mayor and Minister of the Interior and coalition front-runner in Haabersti. "But at this point, I haven't thought about it further. When the results are very good, we will see what's next."
Savisaar's own response was even more vague: "What is it that we come together for then? We didn't join together for the sake of just one day!"
Asked if he will offer opportunities to engage in politics to Center Party members running on his ticket whom the party has decided to expel from its ranks, Savisaar responded, "Every person in Estonia — if Estonia is a democratic country — can continue in politics here. Policy isn't made exclusively in parties."
Savisaar, the former longtime chairman of the Center Party, admitted that he has indeed previously been in favor of political parties and has been relatively skeptical when it comes to election coalitions, but explained that political parties have largely discredited themselves and noted that it was announced on Monday that the number of election coalitions in the upcoming elections is around 150.
"This means that election coalitions are on the rise now and it would be very strange if parties began expelling those who are in election coalitions," he concluded.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: ERR, BNS