Outgoing prime minister Jüri Ratas (Center) said at his last press briefing as the head of the current government on Thursday that he is proud both of his first and second governments.
A coalition involving both the Reform Party and Isamaa is off the table at the latter s behest, Reform MP and the party s deputy chair, Jürgen Ligi, says. The signs are that the Isamaa does not want Reform in office, Ligi told Vikerraadio talk show Vikerhommik Thursday morning, adding that Reform would have to form a coalition with Center only, in order to ensure the Conservative People s Party of Estonia (EKRE) is not in office. Since Isamaa does not want to join a government with the Reform Party, Reform has no choice but to form a coalition with the Center Party, since it is important to remove the Estonian Conservative People s Party (EKRE) from power, Ligi, a former finance minister, went on.
Jüri Ratas, the Estonian prime minister and the head of the Centre Party, has resigned, following the party’s suspected criminal involvement in a corruption case, bringing an end to the current coalition government; On 14 January, the Estonian president nominated the opposition leader Kaja Kallas as the candidate for new prime minister.
On 12 January, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced it suspected the Centre Party and five individuals, including the party’s secretary-general, Mihhail Korb, were involved in a corruption case.
Influence peddling
According to the suspicion, Korb had asked the Estonian businessman, Hillar Teder, to support the party with up to a million euros within a year – in return for the €39 million loan to Teder’s Porto Franco real estate development by Old City Harbor in Tallinn. The loan was granted by Estonia’s state credit agency, KredEx.
The ratings of political parties have been stable since the beginning of the year, with the top three made up of the Reform Party, the Center Party and Eesti 200 with clear gaps between the ratings, results of a survey from the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and Norstat Eesti AS show.
The latest results, published early on Wednesday morning, show the Reform Party is supported by 28.4 percent, the Center Party by 21.6 percent and the non-parliamentary Eesti 200 by 16.4 percent of voting-age citizens.
None of the parties ratings have changed by more than 0.5 percentage points week on week, which means that the ratings continue to be in the same as before Christmas.