Richness of Life unveils manifesto
Richness of Life, Estonia's newest political party to be fielding candidates in the March elections, has announced its full platform.
The party (''Elurikkuse Erakond'' in Estonian), which does not have a leader in the conventional sense, but has put up a prime ministerial candidate (Mihkel Kangur), stated its intention to turn Estonia into a smart eco-state.
This requires an economy which is restorative to the natural world, has a contemporary and enriching education, and a state which functions from the bottom up, the party explained on its website.
"We do not have much time to react to the problems resulting from global warming, which requires broad-based joint decisions as to what we will do and how we will do it, in order to ensure that our children and we will have a liveable environment here," Mr Kangur stated.
"To move towards a common goal together, we have decided to make use of direct democracy when making decisions, since through inclusion in decision-making processes, citizens are also included in building a new Estonia," he continued.
Collective effort
Mr Kangur also pointed towards World Cleanup Day, which began in Estonia as ''Teeme Ära'' and has now gone global, as an example of ancient Estonian concepts put to a modern use.
''When we act together, we can move even bigger things and make smarter decisions,'' Mr Kangur added, noting that all members of the party had a chance to contribute their ideas to the manifesto.
The entire process of drafting the manifesto took over four months, in order to ensure the panel of volunteers were able to summarise all ideas as concisely as possible, Mr Kangur said.
"As we are making decisions together, the program is constantly being improved through new decisions and, if needed, we can also review the decisions that have already been made, if circumstances should change or the situation should require it," he went on.
Mr Kangur added that the party's program is nevertheless not a sacred text set in stone, seeking to prescribe in as much detail as possible how people should live their lives.
"It is a vision how to reach a smart eco-state based on the best knowledge we have today," he said.
Richness of Life, formerly referred to on ERR News as the Biodiversity Party, was formed through the course of 2018, reaching the required figure of 500 members for legal registration as a party, towards the end of the year. The party is not running a full 125-candidate strong list in the March election, though it is running candidates in all 12 of Estonia's electoral districts, on average around three candidates per district.
Richness of Life, formerly referred to in ERR as the Biodiversity Party, was formed through the course of 2018, reaching the required figure of 500 members for legal registration as a party, towards the end of the year. The party is not running a full 125-candidate strong list in the March election, though it is running candidates in all 12 of Estonia's electoral districts, on average around three candidates per district.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte