Justice minister Maris Lauri (Reform) has rejected a bill from the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDE), which would give more powers to the political parties financing watchdog, and aims to make party finances more transparent, saying that her ministry is developing its own bill this year. "Strengthening the supervision of party funding is one of the priorities for the government," Lauri said, noting that January's coalition agreement between Reofrm and Center detailed this, making SDE's bill redundant. The watchdog, the Political Party Funding Supervision Committee (ERJK), has been used as a battleground by political parties in recent months, not least when the Center Party tabled a bill to remove the body altogether, and place its functions under the remit of the National Audit Office (Riigikontroll).