Isamaa and Center hope to finalize Tallinn coalition deal by weekend
Tallinn coalition talks between the Centre Party and Isamaa have been progressing well, and may be finished by the end of the week, lead negotiators said.
The topics covered already include: "Social affairs, education, culture. There is still more to discuss. But I think that over the course of this week we will get there," Center's leader Mihhail Kõlvart told "Aktuaalne kaamera."
While disagreements have emerged during the talks, compromises have been reached, he added.
"In the course of negotiations we can acknowledge that common ground exists. Of course, that doesn't mean we won't have the need for further discussions, but up to today we have been able to find common ground," the Center chair went on.
Riina Solman, head of Isamaa's Tallinn branch and the party's lead negotiator, said there is still time, as, due to electoral complaints with the courts, the official results have not yet been announced. The new Tallinn city council composition does not convene until December 4, she added.
Solman said that it was "important to draw up a proper coalition agreement so that there will be fewer points of contention later," adding that the previous Isamaa-Reform-SDE-Eesti 200 coalition had been put in place "very hastily, working through the night," which meant that disputes started almost immediately, since things had not been thought through properly.
As for who the mayoral candidate is, Solman said that is already known to the parties. "Oh yes, yes, yes. There's no escaping that," she said. Again, naming them should not be rushed, Solman added. "Estonia is so small that if you don't negotiate properly, things tend to leak and generate unnecessary fuss around them. We don't need that. We want the best for the city of Tallinn and the best possible mayor," Solman said.
The name will not be announced until the talks are concluded, the Isamaa Tallinn chair added.
Ahead of the formal talks starting the week before last, the two parties agreed the mayoral candidate would be Isamaa's nomination, but would be from outside politics.
Some political observers recently questioned why the Center-Isamaa negotiations had been taking so long, and are still ongoing a month after the local elections took place. The 2026 Tallinn city budget will also need drawing up and voting on soon, but this cannot be done until a coalition is in place.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
