No-confidence motion against minister to be discussed already Wednesday
The opposition parties handed in their motion of no confidence against Minister of Economic Affairs Kadri Simson (Center) on Wednesday. The government asked to have the according debate added to Wednesday's agenda of the Riigikogu.
Chairman of the parliamentary group of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), Martin Helme, handed the motion for his own party as well as the Reform Party and the Free Party to the Riigikogu's board in the parliament's Wednesday sitting.
Following a move to the effect on the part of the government, the Riigikogu will debate the motion still as part of its agenda of today Wednesday.
The opposition's move against Simson follows weeks of media coverage, started by daily Postimees already in December, when the paper accused her of having influenced the coalition's policy to the end of directing support payments to the pig farming industry to specific businesses, eventually benefiting her partner, businessman Teet Soorm.
Simson categorically rejected the accusations and talked about a campaign against her person.
While the accusations had no other consequences, the Reform Party as the largest opposition force has been talking about their trust in Simson having suffered on a broader scale.
"At first it seemed as though there were no reason for a motion of no confidence — that a person's work and home lives are to be kept separate," Pevkur said in December. "But now it feels as though there are plenty of reasons."
Chairman of Reform's parliamentary group, Jürgen Ligi, said that the issues to be taken up in the motion against Simson ranged "from pig farming to bus transport and investment", saying that "strange choices" had been made by the ministers that couldn't be explained beyond her trying to make gains for her party or her family.
Opposition leaders also said on Sunday that they didn't exclude a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Center).
Editor: Dario Cavegn