"We chose the option of speaking with all political forces in Tallinn. I also plan to consult with Parempoolsed, which is a fully credible political movement in the capital," Urmas Sõõrumaa said following the meeting of the Reform Party's city council leadership.

According to Sõõrumaa, the aim of the meetings is to establish cooperation agreements in Tallinn rather than form a new coalition. He said the Reform Party has given him clear guidelines not to forget its campaign promises — such as eliminating kindergarten fees.

Sõõrumaa added that he has already met with a few leading politicians. Since Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) has publicly said he sees no point in meeting with Sõõrumaa, the Reform candidate instead reached out to the chair of the Social Democrats, Lauri Läänemets.

"I've also spoken with others — Kristina Kallas from Eesti 200 and both Urmas Reinsalu and Sven Sester from Isamaa," said Sõõrumaa.

However, Aleksei Jašin, head of Eesti 200's Tallinn branch, told ERR that Sõõrumaa had not met with any Eesti 200 representatives since receiving a mandate from the Reform Party. "That information is misleading," Jašin said.

Sõõrumaa said his impression from the meetings so far is that the three parties currently in power in Tallinn seem to be taking a certain pleasure in the Reform Party's position.

"They're acting like, 'Let the Reform Party go cap in hand to the Center Party so we can point fingers at them.' It's a completely baffling attitude," Sõõrumaa remarked.

He added that the meetings are scheduled to wrap up within a few days, and he is expected to report back on Tuesday with an update. His next planned meeting is with Center Party chair Mihhail Kõlvart.

Until now, the plan has been to convene an extraordinary session of the city council on July 21. The agenda would include both a supplementary budget — which incorporates the Reform Party's proposal to eliminate kindergarten fees — and a vote of no confidence in Mayor Ossinovski. As of now, the extraordinary session is set to be called earlier than July 21 by the city council chair, with a minimum notice period of four days.

Toomas Kruusimägi, a Reform Party member and chair of the Tallinn City Council, told ERR that the timing of the extraordinary session depends on the progress of Sõõrumaa's negotiations.

"So far, he's met with party leaders who haven't been part of governing Tallinn — primarily those of the Social Democrats and Isamaa. Once a plan is in place, the council can begin acting. If necessary, we'll call an extraordinary session. Our position is that things should move as quickly as possible so that summer can be summer and people can work in peace," Kruusimägi said.

Tallinn's leadership crisis

The four-way coalition in Tallinn first hit a rough patch when the Reform Party faction of the city council suggested in the second half of May it might cooperate with the opposition Center Party to abolish kindergarten fees in the capital. Both parties issued press releases on June 2 calling for the abolition of kindergarten fees.

This did not sit well with Reform's coalition partners — Isamaa, SDE and Eesti 200 — who are against the move and have accused the party of using the smokescreen of kindergarten fees to engineer a political crisis in the capital in a bid to discredit partners and improve the party's rating ahead of the October local elections.

The pushback and allegations, according to which Reform is only interested in a ratings bump, which political experts and the media have largely deemed accurate, caused Reform to announce it is unwilling to continue under the leadership of Social Democratic Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski and set up businessman Urmas Sõõrumaa as its candidate for mayor. Ossinovski, in his turn, has dismissed Reform's deputy mayors and city district heads.

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