The map of Estonia turned largely blue at the recent local elections, Reinsalu said, even as the party lagged behind the Center Party in the total number of votes.

Speaking to "Esimene stuudio," Reinsalu said: "I do not in the slightest question the legitimacy of all the voters, but at local elections, even people without citizenship have the right to vote. Naturally, Russians — who make up a large portion of our population — supported the Center Party. That was certainly one reason."

The results should be measured by seats, he added. "Votes are a political reality, but I think that local elections — perhaps unusually — should be measured in mandates. I saw that Isamaa received about 350 seats in various councils. That's the strongest result, and it carries great responsibility for Isamaa."

The elections left far more disappointed people than triumphant ones, Reinsalu went on, adding that the voters had sent a clear signal that things must change.

"I think there are more disappointed people. Of course, in every municipality there is a certain excitement now. People are talking about what kind of coalition there will be, and so on. But I think these local elections carried a special weight. The key point is that the [2024] European Parliament elections already sent a signal to the ruling leadership — a signal that got ignored — then the crisis of trust deepened. Now, at these elections, we saw that the governing coalition actually suffered a devastating midterm defeat, and I'm very seriously concerned that this crisis of trust will deepen further. On Monday, on 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' Prime Minister Kristen Michal said he takes responsibility — but that means continuing with the same policy. That's what 'taking responsibility' means. I think that's condescending toward the Estonian people. People want to see different policies and change at the national level," the Isamaa chairman told the show.

Reinsalu reiterated a call he already made for Michal to step down as prime minister, noting "political leaders in these local elections — the Riigikogu speaker got 44 votes, ministers got 30 — that is not an assessment of how well they fix roads, but a judgment of their political performance as national leaders," he said.

The politician was tight-lipped on which Tallinn coalition lineup offer would be preferable: talks with Center or with the Social Democrats (SDE), Reform, and Parempoolsed, offered by incumbent Tallinn mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski.

With the poor performance of the previous four-party coalition, which included Isamaa, and unresolved issues for that, Reinsalu said this needed fixing in the capital, "in the interests of the people and economic development — since Tallinn accounts for half of Estonia's economic output — we need to take the time to do that homework."

"About a month ago, I sent a letter to all other mayoral candidates in Tallinn, describing what I see as seven core problems facing the city and calling on them to agree on these issues before the elections. At that time, I received no responses — only Martin Helme emailed me to say I should read EKRE's program. I think now is the time to address those questions more thoughtfully, as they didn't receive enough substantive discussion during the campaign rush," he added.

With any potential alliance with Center, both parties' values need to be taken into account, the Isamaa leader went on. Voting rights were one of these issues where there could be differences, he said.

"We must not send fickle or incorrect signals to different social groups. That only increases tensions. We need stronger cohesion on fundamental issues. It's really a matter of effort, where politicians appealing to different voter groups must be able to carry that responsibility. I remember that Jevgeni Ossinovski was also very critical of granting voting rights to Russian citizens — he didn't hide it — and we had a very interesting and inspiring discussion when forming Tallinn's previous coalition. I'm glad it materialized, and naturally, the Centre Party was critical of it. But now it has culminated — for Isamaa — in a necessary decision," said Reinsalu.

Reinsalu also claimed the media is attempting to pressure Isamaa to make a quick decision, but to do so would send the wrong societal message.

"It wouldn't be fair to the Estonian people to approach this in a careless, superficial way," he added.

Ossinovski: Mayor of Tallinn will be either from Center or SDE

Ossinovski, meanwhile, told "Ringvaade" that his party is ready to continue leading the city, adding if Isamaa forms a coalition with Center, the mayor will come from the latter party.

"In broad terms, there are two options: Either the mayor of Tallinn will come from the Center Party, or the city will continue under our leadership. The Social Democrats are ready to take that responsibility, and we have made the corresponding proposal. We hope that, in addition to Parempoolsed and the Reform Party, Isamaa will also decide that Tallinn must move forward, not backward," Ossinovski said.

Ossinovski said that Reinsalu has no desire to become mayor of Tallinn and is being cautious ahead of the next Riigikogu election.

"It was clear before the elections that he doesn't want to do so in a coalition with such a fragile majority, since his real ambition lies in the prime minister's seat at the 2027 elections. Isamaa's position is not unique either: Each of those four parties could form a coalition with the Center Party — mathematically, that is possible. It's just that the others have already said they do not wish to bring the Center Party back to power, but Isamaa has not yet done so. They are probably weighing what effect either choice would have on their voter support in the longer term," Ossinovski went on.

Ossinovski said Monday that he had made a proposal to Isamaa, the Reform Party, and Parempoolsed to start coalition talks.

A constitutional amendment in spring, backed by Isamaa, stripped the right to vote from third-country nationals resident in Estonia, with the rationale that this would prevent Russian and Belarusian citizens resident in Estonia from voting. "Gray passport" holders, meaning people who are not citizens of Estonia or any other state, were entitled to vote at the recently concluded elections as a one-off exemption.

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