Isamaa still undecided on who to start Tallinn coalition talks with

Isamaa made no decision on who to start coalition talks with at a meeting Thursday, the party has announced.
On Monday, Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) proposed to Isamaa, the Reform Party, and Parempoolsed to begin coalition negotiations. Since Center had also made a proposal to Isamaa, the party is weighing up its options.
The party's Tallinn district chair Riina Solman said after Thursday's meeting that the party had initially been prepared to go into opposition after the elections, so the offer from Center to enter office in the capital had come as a surprise to them.
"What happened was that on Sunday evening we were ready to move into opposition, and then it turned out that EKRE didn't even get into the city council, so there wouldn't be a Center Party–EKRE alliance. In fact, all the parties just looked at each other and asked, what do we do now? Then a kind of polarized situation arose, where Isamaa was under pressure from all sides to choose one or the other. Both party leaders and politicians are talking via the media and pressuring us, and they're actually saying self-serving things that I recommend listeners not take too seriously. After some discussion we decided to choose the path of a Nordic-style deliberative culture. We took that on and have now written out our 15 points. We are addressing all city council parties and asking them to respond to the policy points we've presented," Solman said.

"I'm sending the letter out today and I'm ready to start consultations even tomorrow (ie. Friday – ed.). The idea is that we're looking for common ground. If the society is now very polarized and everyone's choosing sides, then we'd rather move forward by searching for shared ground, and once we find it, we can agree on an action plan that everyone supports, that's been discussed and decided together, and that we'll start implementing. We're thinking above all about the people, but also about all of Estonia." Solman stressed that the party supports an Estonian-minded and Estonian-speaking city government, and that any administration Isamaa joins will operate in Estonian, with press conferences held in Estonian.
"Under our administration, municipal departments will also start speaking Estonian, and we'll try to raise the service culture to be Estonian-speaking too — something that unfortunately isn't the case everywhere in Tallinn right now. We even still have, by the way, Russian-language signs on school buildings," Solman said.
"[Party chair] Urmas Reinsalu was sitting next to me, and there was some discussion and probing of who and what, and then the chair said the golden words — that he doesn't know yet. He hasn't made his decision, based on the current situation," Solman continued.
"At the moment we're not considering going into opposition, and our focus is definitely on the transition to Estonian-language education. It's definitely going to be an Estonian-speaking and Estonian-minded city, where the livelihood and economic environment of Estonian people will improve," Solman added.

Isamaa's 15 point questions, which it is asking all parties it could potentially go into office in Tallinn with to answer in writing, are as follows:
- Tallinn's GDP makes up nearly half of Estonia's economy. How do you view the potential to increase Tallinn's economic growth and improve its international competitiveness? What steps should the city take, and what would be your expectations for the state?
- What is your position on the transition to Estonian-language education as a whole, and more specifically in the case of fourth grades? What steps should be taken in Tallinn to support this transition?
- Do you think it is needed to ensure people's actual rights to Estonian-language services in Tallinn, and if so, how should this right be guaranteed through both city and state responsibilities?
- What is your position on the scale of public information campaigns funded by the city budget? Should this be changed, and should such communication be in Estonian only?
- What are the most important major projects that the city or the city together with the state should address and develop? Should the new Tallinn hospital project be halted without state co-financing, and what should the state's decision be regarding participation in the project?
- If at all, through what measures could price increases be mitigated within the city's powers, and what should be expected of the state? What is your position on the continuation of current city services and subsidies?
- Regarding city service and ownership policy: do you consider it necessary to avoid politicization of the city's civil service, and how should that be ensured? How should the appointment of executives and boards of city-owned companies and foundations take place? Should any of the city's holdings be privatized? Should the city take active steps regarding the problem of excessive fees from [water supplier] Tallinna Vesi?
- What should be done with the remaining Soviet occupation monuments and symbols in Tallinn? Do you support dismantling the Maarjamäe obelisk?
- What is your view of the city's land tax policy? Should the land tax burden be changed, and by how much? What should Tallinn's expectations be toward state tax policy?
- What should be done to ensure smoother traffic in Tallinn? Do you consider it necessary or possible to review the Liivalaia and Pelguranna tram projects? What is your position on continuing free public transport?
- Should and how should the city contribute to solving the housing affordability issue?
- What steps should be taken to accelerate the processing of zoning and planning applications in Tallinn?
- Should the city avoid or encourage growth at the expense of other regions of Estonia through various support or incentive schemes, and in what policy choices could this be reflected?
- What key policy decisions made by the outgoing city government do you consider necessary to revise? What changes in city governance should be made based on past experience?
- The local elections showed a deepening crisis of trust in Estonia. What steps do you think should be taken to overcome this crisis of trust both in Tallinn and, at the initiative of city politicians, across the country?
Former Isamaa chair and current MP Helir-Valdor Seeder told "Vikerhommik" Friday morning that it was to be expected that nothing concrete has been achieved in some areas just five days after the elections, in particular in the capital. "In a situation where official results have not been announced, I think it would be abnormal for decisions to be made in a few days in such a large and complex city as Tallinn," Seeder said.
Incumbent Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) said on Wednesday that in his view, Isamaa's voters would not be happy if the party opted to form a coalition with the Center Party, seen as pro-Russian, instead of a four-party alliance with SDE, Parempoolsed and Reform.
Isamaa won 11 seats at the recent local elections, while Center won 37, not enough for a 40-mandate majority on the 79-seat council. SDE won 17 seats.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin, Mirjam Mäekivi
Source: Interview with Iida-Mai Einmaa










