Analytics, Democracy , Demography, Estonia, Legislation
Estonian parlt to continue handling of draft resolution on marriage referendum
BC, Tallinn, 14.12.2020.
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The Estonian parliament did not support a proposal by the opposition to reject the draft resolution on holding a referendum on the definition of marriage on December 14th, informs LETA/BNS.
The proposal submitted by the opposition Reform Party and Social Democratic Party (SDE) to reject the draft was voted out with 48 votes for and 51 against.
The parliament is thus to continue the handling of the of the draft resolution and the first reading thereof was concluded.
Three MPs of the coalition
The Riigikogu did not support a proposal by the opposition to reject the marriage referendum bill on Monday and the draft passed its first reading after a four-hour debate.
The proposal submitted by the opposition Reform Party and Social Democratic Party (SDE) to reject the bill was voted down with 48 votes for and 51 against.
Isamaa MPs Siim Kiisler, Üllar Saaremäe and Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits voted in favor of rejecting the bill and Isamaa member Mihhail Lotman abstained.
Imre Sooäär, (Center) who has been critical of the marriage referendum, voted against the rejection of the bill. Mihhail Korb (Center) abstained.
Riigikogu discuss marriage referendum after opposition proposal fails news.err.ee - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news.err.ee Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On Monday, the draft marriage referendum bill will undergo its first reading in the Riigikogu and the opposition parties intend to vote it out. This would fail if every member of the coalition voted against it, but there are several members who have already said they will not agree to a future referendum. ERR s Estonian language portal examined how sceptical coalition members intend to vote on the draft.
The governing coalition of the Center Party (25 members), EKRE (19 members) and the Isamaa (12 members) has 56 votes in total in the Riigikogu, giving them a majority to pass legislation when needed.
No vote is required for the draft marriage referendum bill to pass the first reading, but the opposition can propose to vote the draft out of procedure and the Riigikogu. Chairman of the Social Democratic Party Indrek Saar and leader of the Reform Party Kaja Kallas have told ERR their factions will make a proposal to do so.
A petition titled Suspension of the oil plant construction permit was debated at a sitting of the Riigikogu economic affairs committee for almost two and a half hours on Tuesday - to the surprise of all present, Finance Minister Martin Helme (EKRE) taking part in the sitting called the initiators of the petition dunderheads and, at one point in his remarks, threatened with leaving the European Union, daily newspaper Postimees reports.
The petitioners want clean water, clean air and clean land to be provided to all Estonians, therefore they expect solutions from the state that would support and develop, ensure a livable environment for future generations and achieve carbon neutrality as a state. This means that our collective greenhouse gas production would not exceed the carbon capture that is mainly carried out by our forests and bogs, they argued.