Reform Party's Tallinn branch elects Maris Lauri as chair
The Reform Party's Tallinn branch on Sunday elected Maris Lauri as its new regional chair.
Lauri, a former justice minister, was Reform's mayoral candidate at last month's local elections. She beat out party members Märt Vooglaid and Jevgeni Šibinski in Saturday's vote.
On being elected, Lauri said Reform Party members in Tallinn must learn from their past mistakes and work more broadly together to ensure the capital's development continues.
"Teamwork and cooperation are the basis of success. If we are one team fighting for things that align with the Reform Party's values, voters will recognize that at the next elections," she said.
Reform's Tallinn regional board resigned in October following the local elections, which Lauri said at the time was an act of political responsibility aimed at starting with a clean slate.
A record number of candidates ran for the board's four seats this time. The four elected included former ministers Signe Riisalo and Yoko Alender.
New chairs were also elected for the capital's district branches, and also sit on the Tallinn board.
Reform's previous Tallinn chair, Pärtel-Peeter Pere, stepped down in July as a deputy mayor over the issue of kindergarten fees in the capital, with the entire party leaving the city government soon afterwards. This left Isamaa, SDE and Eesti 200 to rule as a minority coalition up to October's local elections. Coalition negotiations between the Center Party and Isamaa are ongoing.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Barbara Oja
