The board will remain in place in a caretaker capacity until a meeting to elect a new board next month.

The party issued a press release after the meeting where the decision was made which stated that the party's Tallinn branch board had decided to take political responsibility, to resign, and to convene a regional general assembly to elect new leaders for the Tallinn branch. "This way, the new board can start with a clean slate," said Maris Lauri, board member and the party's mayoral candidate.

"We took political responsibility for what happened in Tallinn already in the summer. This affected not only the results in Tallinn; that alone would have been reason enough to resign. But the impact extended more broadly across Estonia and affected our party's overall results," Lauri told ERR Tuesday.

Prime Minister and Reform Party chairman Kristen Michal told Vikerraadio show "Stuudios on peaminister" that the decision of the Tallinn branch board, led by Pärtel-Peeter Pere, to step down was entirely their own. "It was their decision. In any case, the Tallinn branch board's term was coming to an end and new elections had to be announced. They decided to notify of their resignation, invite everyone to run, and elect a new board and regional leader," he said.

The prime minister noted that confusion which reigned in the Tallinn coalition over summer, which ended with Reform exiting that coalition, was certainly not the only reason the party performed badly at the local elections.

"Yes, that confusion in Tallinn certainly didn't help. But from a national perspective, I see larger trends — the economy has been going through tough times, there's the constant pressure of war, and the media has often reflected the feeling that everything is getting worse. /…/ Therefore, I wouldn't single out one element. There has been a lot of headwind for Estonia as a whole — and for the Reform Party too. But the Reform Party is a forward-looking, economically rational party, and perhaps that's why we've been taking hits, since the future has lately been seen in darker tones. Now we'll take steps to stay consistent, to deliver what we've promised. And when we do, I believe people will be able to say, 'Yes, we know what the Reform Party is doing, yes, we know we can support them,'" Michal continued.

Tallinn branch leader Pärtel-Peeter Pere, whose resignation as Tallinn deputy mayor in summer came shortly before the party left the coalition as a whole, told ERR: "The Reform Party's Tallinn board resigned in corpore to collectively take political responsibility."

Lauri added that responsibility for events and whether these land on the board as a whole will be discussed by the next party board.

Reform's Tallinn regional general assembly is to take place on November 16, when a new board will be elected. Pere will continue working for the Tallinn region as a member of the negotiating team for the new capital city coalition.

Reform's vote share suffered a major loss nationwide at the local elections, from 17.3 percent in 2021 to 10 percent this year.

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