Reform Party unveils Tallinn candidates, platform for local elections
The Reform Party on Saturday unveiled its full candidate list for Tallinn, led in Haabersti by businessman Urmas Sõõrumaa, and rolled out its platform ahead of the local elections — promising faster building permits, funding for kids' extracurriculars, and a new high-tech industrial park in Lasnamäe.
The Reform Party confirmed in July that Maris Lauri will be its candidate for mayor.
First-time contenders on the list include businessman Urmas Sõõrumaa, Bolt development manager Henri Arras, art scholar Harry Liivrand, Estonian National Youth Council (ENL) CEO Kaarel Taimla and education-sector businesswoman Maria Rahamägi-Suits.
In total, 105 people are running for the Reform Party in Tallinn this fall's local elections.
Topping the ticket in Haabersti District is Sõõrumaa, followed by MP Luisa Rõivas and Tallinn City Council chair and Tallinn English College principal Toomas Kruusimägi. Lead candidates in the City Center District include multiple-time minister Maris Lauri, former deputy mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere, and Riigikogu MP and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Marko Mihkelson.
In Kristiine District, leading Reform Party candidates will include Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi, former district elder Jaanus Riibe and MP Kristo Enn Vaga, while Minister of Social Affairs Karmen Joller, former deputy mayor Viljar Jaamu and Reform parliamentary group deputy chair Valdo Randpere will lead the party's list in Lasnamäe District.
Representing Reform in Mustamäe District will be Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur and MPs Vilja Toomast and Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, while MEP Urmas Paet, Reform parliamentary group chair Õnne Pillak and MP Eerik-Niiles Kross will lead candidate lists in Nõmme District.
The Reform Party will be represented in Pirita District by Minister of Culture Heidy Purga, Minister of Energy and the Environment Andres Sutt and former district elder Doris Raudsepp, and in Põhja-Tallinn District by Social Affairs Minister Signe Riisalo, former Climate Minister Yoko Alender and MP Hanah Lahe.
The Reform platform for this fall's local elections aims to speed up the capital's detailed plan and building permitting process while penalizing slow construction, as well as develop a high-tech new industrial park in Lasnamäe District.
It also promises to support children's extracurriculars with €300 starting at age five and create "activity accounts" which older adults can use for gyms and cultural institutions.
--
Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
