While Center took 37 seats on Tallinn's city council on Sunday at the local election, this is not enough for a majority.

Isamaa, which won 11 seats, could form an alliance with Center for a two-party coalition, or join SDE, Reform and Parempoolsed to create a four-party union.

Saarts said Isamaa would be able to justify a coalition with Center to its voters.

"If Isamaa were to actually make such a decision, it would likely justify it to its voters along two lines. First, they would argue that a partnership with the Center Party offers a more functional and efficient solution for city governance than the Social Democrats-led four-party alliance, whose fragility and poor cooperation were evident over the past year. Therefore, Isamaa wants stable and efficient city governance, which it can only deliver in a coalition with fewer partners," he told ERR on Tuesday.

"Second, they would claim they are entering the new city government to uphold Estonian values and to rein in abuses of power and corruption by the Center Party, so their aim is not just administrative efficiency, but also a patriotic mission," the political scientist added.

Saarts said Isamaa would be able to reach compromises with the Center Party on all sensitive issues, such as Estonian-language education, constitutional amendments, and other decisions with a national dimension.

"The Center Party wants a slightly more empathetic approach toward Russian-speaking students and schools during the transition to Estonian-language education, as well as more resources for this area. Isamaa is probably also ready to back off when it comes to issues related to Russian culture and symbols. None of the earlier decisions would be reversed, but nothing radically new would be introduced either. The issue of voting rights is a national matter anyway, something the Tallinn city government cannot decide on," Saarts reasoned.

Joining the four-party alliance would be primarily a values-based choice for Isamaa.

"From Isamaa's and its voters' perspective, this would be a coalition of so-called white and pro-Estonian forces, with whom it should theoretically be easier to find ideological common ground. The major drawback of the rainbow coalition, however, is that governance would be complicated, and it would be hard for Isamaa to stand out," he said.

He noted that this coalition would not differ much from the previous one. "There would be a lot of internal tension, a constant risk of collapse, and Isamaa's role and faces would not stand out enough. It is clear that such a coalition would not last long, which means that at some point Isamaa would have to enter into a coalition with the Center Party in Tallinn anyway — or end up in the opposition," Saarts said.

On Monday, Social Democratic Party deputy chair and the party's mayoral candidate in Tallinn, Jevgeni Ossinovski, proposed to the Reform Party, Parempoolsed, and Isamaa that they begin coalition talks in Tallinn.

The Center Party, which won the elections in Tallinn, also made a proposal to Isamaa to start coalition negotiations.

Isamaa's Tallinn regional board will meet on Thursday to discuss both proposals.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!