Riigikogu rejects EKRE's national anthem bill
The Riigikogu on Tuesday voted to reject a bill initiated by the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) according to which the song "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" would be confirmed as Estonia's national anthem in a separate law.
The bill was voted out of the Riigikogu's agenda by a vote of 51 to eight, with one abstention, in its first reading.
The Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu last Tuesday voted in favor of rejecting the bill, and recommended amending the existing Estonian Flag Act to include details concering the anthem instead.
Seven committee members supported the proposal to draw up a bill to amend the Estonian Flag Act in connection with the national anthem. According to the proposal, the bill would amend the law to state that the Estonian flag is raised on Tall Hermann Tower in Tallinn to a musical theme based on the first bars of the Estonian national anthem, Friedrich Pacius and Johann Voldemar Jannsen's "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm."
The Board of the Riigikogu accepted the bill to amend the Estonian Flag Act drawn up by the Constitutional Committee on March 8.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS
