Speaking to "Terevisioon" Monday morning and after election night, Kõlvart, a former mayor of Tallinn, was also unable to state what, if anything, the remaining parties may have agreed on, though hinted at a Center-Isamaa deal.

"It seems to me that four parties have surely been in contact with each other, perhaps even ahead the elections, which is also logical," he said.
Center is in a strong enough bargaining position to make proposals to other parties, however.

"Since we also had to discuss among ourselves to whom we would make a proposal, I think we at least have the moral right to do so," Kõlvart said.

While Center won the largest number of seats, at 37, this is not enough to form an absolute majority on the 79-seat council, and with the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and Eesti 200 winning no seats, the four remaining parties have enough seats to form a coalition together.

The Social Democrats (SDE), Isamaa, Reform and Parempoolsed, the latter winning its first ever Tallinn city council seats, together have 42 mandates.

However, Center and Isamaa together, a viable alliance, would have 48 seats, and that, Kõlvart said, would be the most logical of his party's possible proposals.

"We are seeing today that we are ready to negotiate not only with one party. It would be logical that the first proposal should go to Isamaa. Also from the perspective of the next elections, if we take into account the Reform Party's failure as being obvious to many today, this should mean that opposition parties are prepared to or wish to rule out cooperation with the Reform Party, meaning there is actually only one possibility, since right now we have [either] four parties on the table, or the Center Party with one partner," Kõlvart went on.

Kõlvart conceded that it is not possible to predict what political situation lies ahead over the next four years, not only in Tallinn but also in Estonia and the wider world. He went as far as saying that since a "politically turbulent" period is likely between now and the Riigikogu elections in 2027, "everything is possible."

Asked whether, were a four-party coalition formed in Tallinn without Center, the latter would simply be waiting around for its collapse, Kõlvart replied that that situation already exists.

"After all, the Center Party has won the elections, not only in Tallinn but across Estonia. The numbers show that today the Center Party is the most popular party. Yes, of course, primarily thanks to the results in Tallinn, but the figures are the figures. As a result, I think that right now we are talking about the opportunity to make a proposal to potential partners, plus of course we understand, and also proceed from the fact that, parallel negotiations are taking place between the four parties," he continued.

As to whether the Center Party would exclude any potential partners in Tallinn, Kõlvart said that rhetorically speaking he could state they would not, though added much has been said and has happened before the elections, meaning the choice is actually not that wide.

"History shows that parties are capable of adjusting their positions depending on the situation. But of course, what has been said publicly carries weight. At least it should carry weight," he went on.

Ultimately, while the numbers show Center did well, the real measure is power and the achieving of it, Kõlvart conceded.

Nationwide, the Center Party the most-supported party, with 124,840 votes, or 21.1 percent of the total, but fell behind all electoral alliances combined, which took 23.9 percent of the vote (141,126).

In Tallinn, Center received 41.3 percent of the vote, and 37 mandates.

Kõlvart himself, Tallinn's mayor 2019 to 2024, took the highest number of votes in Tallinn of any single candidate, earning 26,531 votes in the Lasnamäe district.

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