Both parties have 15 mandates on the 49-seat council and held initial discussions about forming a coalition on Tuesday.

Isamaa agreed to give up the mayorship in return for the role of head of the council. Longterm mayor Urmas Klaas will continue in his role.

"Giving up the mayor's position is not easy for Isamaa, but what's more important is fulfilling the promises made to voters. In addition, cooperation with the Reform Party in running the city has been good, and we believe that our programmatic goals can best be achieved in a two-party coalition rather than in a coalition with another force elected to the Tartu City Council," said Kaspar Kokk, head of Isamaa's Tartu branch, in a press release.

Klaas said voters in Tartu sent a clear message in the elections about who they want to see as the next mayor.

"In the current situation, the Reform Party and Isamaa have an equal number of mandates in the Tartu City Council. However, the people of Tartu gave the largest number of votes to the Reform Party's mayoral candidate," said Klaas.

Summing up the topics of the first day of talks, Kokk said it is important for Isamaa that the coalition supports the continuation of medical education at the University of Tartu and the development of Tartu University Hospital. From an urban space perspective, Isamaa wants to critically review the maintenance of green areas.

Reform named the construction of the Siuru cultural center and the creation of a good living environment as its main priorities.

A shared goal was set to open the comprehensive plan to ensure the development of urban space that considers the needs of all types of road users.

Isamaa won 16 seats at the local election last week, but this dropped to 15 after a controversial YouTube streamer Kris Kärner was removed from the Tartu faction. He won 1,600 votes for the party, giving the party an additional mandate.

Equal footing

On Wednesday morning, Klaas confirmed that he will continue as mayor. Additionally, Reform will have two deputy mayor posts and Isamaa three.

"Both the Reform Party's and Isamaa's regional boards and factions have decided to begin coalition negotiations. Yesterday was the first substantive day of talks, and today we are continuing. The first major topic block is a very important issue for Tartu, and that is education," Klaas said.

He said the position of mayor is a very serious job, and since the Reform Party and Isamaa have an equal number of mandates in the council, they aim to organize everything, including the division of responsibilities, on an equal footing.

As the question of who would hold the mayor's position arose within the first hours after the election, Klaas said it could not be left off the table.

"We raised it by saying that if we have the same number of mandates and I have the highest level of trust among Tartu residents, as reflected in the vote count, then it is entirely logical that the responsibility of mayor also rests with a representative of the Reform Party. We made that proposal, and Isamaa took time for discussions and informed us of its decision last night," he said.

Both Isamaa and the Reform Party support moving forward with the Siuru project. Klaas noted that this has also been the clear position of the current coalition.

"We have set a limit for ourselves that the cost must not exceed, and we are designing and developing it in such a way that all the developments remain within the agreed limits," Klaas said.

Following the coalition negotiations, the first city council session could likely be convened in the week starting November 17.

"We will take exactly as much time as is needed to work thoroughly, but we are working efficiently," he said.

Mistake

Isamaa chairman Urmas Reinsalu said on Äripäev's morning radio show that the decision by the party's Tartu mayoral candidate, Tõnis Lukas, to give up the position of mayor of Tartu was a mistake, and that the situation can still be changed.

"There is definitely still room for reconsideration within the dynamics of the negotiations," Reinsalu told Äripäev.

In his view, it is fair and expected that the winner of the election is given the opportunity to form the city government. "People hoped for and wanted to see change in Tartu. If the election winner is denied that opportunity, it's not fair," he said.

Reinsalu criticized the Reform Party's behavior, calling it coercive.

This article was updated to add comments from Urmas Reinsalu.

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