While in Tallinn the Reform Party campaigned on its total rejection of the Center Party and excluded the possibility of a coalition already early on, cooperation between the rival parties is possible in several local municipalities.

Tartu, Estonia’s second-largest city, is one of them. It has been ruled by a coalition of the Reform Party, the Social Democrats, and the Center Party.

The Reform Party won the Oct. 15 election in the city and now holds 20 of 49 mandates on the city council. Mayor Urmas Klaas said immediately after the election that seeing as they had gained mandates, they would continue with only one coalition partner.

On Monday Klaas announced a new coalition with the Center Party, adding the latter’s seven mandates to Reform’s 20 for a comfortable majority. The Social Democrats, with eight mandates the second-largest group on the council, will now be in opposition.