The disagreement surfaced with the election of chairs and vice chairs at the first Tallinn district council meetings.

Reform's Jevgeni Krištafovitš was elected chair of Põhja-Tallinn District with 11 votes, backed by members of the coalition Center Party and Isamaa, while Social Democrat (SDE) Natalie Mets received ten votes. Mets says this disproves Reform's pre-election claim that cooperation with the Center Party under Mihhail Kõlvart's leadership would be impossible.

"After the elections, opposition parties agreed on the division of district councils," she noted. "Yesterday it became clear that the Reform Party had abandoned that agreement and decided to work with the Center Party and Isamaa."

Mets said she had tried to confirm the agreement with Reform representatives ahead of Tuesday's meeting but got no clear answers, instead being directed from one person to another until finally being told Krištafovitš would be nominated.

"I was also told there had been no agreement between opposition parties at all," she added.

In reality, the Reform Party was far from alone, as Center and Isamaa voted for Krištafovitš, and in return, Reform backed Center's Manuela Pihlap as district elder in Põhja-Tallinn and Isamaa's Ahti Kallikorm as district elder in Kristiine.

Mets said the move shows that decisions in the Reform Party are made centrally and that the party is now acting as a loyal opposition willing to support the coalition in exchange for a few positions.

Maris Lauri, chair of the Reform Party's Tallinn chapter, disputed that any agreement was broken. She said parties are accountable to their own voters, not others, and balancing interests can be tricky.

"When circumstances [in a prior agreement] change, things are discussed again," Lauri wrote on social media. She criticized the Social Democrats for responding late and at the last minute to counterproposals.

Lauri emphasized that district councils are advisory bodies representing community interests. Politics is often secondary, giving parties "freedom to negotiate independently" at the district council level.

"The Reform Party stuck to its verbal agreements among opposition members at the city council level and even accommodated the Social Democrats," Lauri said. "But for the districts, our members make their own decisions. That's exactly what we told the Social Democrats last Thursday."

Tensions in the city

Krištafovitš called the SDE's criticism "surprising," noting Tuesday's meeting was constructive and took place in a positive atmosphere. He likewise noted that district councils are advisory bodies, not venues for factional battles, and stressed they cannot block or push through any decisions.

Tensions in the opposition are also evident in Tallinn City Council, where the opposition has failed to nominate a candidate for second vice chair in two meetings. The post requires coalition support, as the election needs a majority of the council.

Tallinn's Isamaa–Center coalition holds a combined 48 of the city council's 79 seats. The Social Democrats form the largest opposition group with 17 seats, followed by Reform with eight and Parempoolsed with six.

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