Government delaying important decisions before election, Isamaa claims
Several important promises in the coalition agreement between the Reform Party and Eesti 200, will remain unfulfilled during this parliamentary term, the opposition said as the summer break approaches.
The Riigikogu will soon go on summer recess, and when it reconvenes in the autumn, the next general election will be seven months away in March 2027.
Urmas Reinsalu, leader of the opposition party Isamaa, said the coalition is postponing important issues to a time when it will likely no longer be in power.
"First of all, public finances. The government has also promised sound public finances in the coalition agreement, but we see that in reality, the outlook has become catastrophic and there is no such plan. The task of putting public finances in order has been left to the government that takes office after 2027," he said.
"Secondly, an action plan was promised in family policy, yet the government has reduced subsistence benefits for families with children by nearly €200 million a year, and now this new document again contains tasks deferred until after the elections," the chairman added.
Reinsalu also highlighted energy security, support for investments, and resisting the taxation of fuels through the ETS system.
However, Kristina Kallas, leader of junior coalition partner Eesti 200, said the coalition has accomplished a great deal.
"We have kept family benefits at quite a high level, but as we can see, these high benefits have no effect on the birth rate today. The reasons for the low birth rate lie elsewhere than in low family benefits; Estonia is one of the countries with the highest family benefits," Kallas said.
"Offshore wind farm developments are underway, detailed plans are being approved, and new parks will come online next year," she added.
Maris Lauri, vice chair of the Reform Party, agreed that lawmaking will become more complicated from the autumn onwards.
"In general, it has been customary that the closer elections get, the harder it becomes to pass various bills and make decisions. They require broader consensus, or they have to be very important for the parties supporting the bill," she said.
"One reason why many bills are not left until autumn and so much is done in the spring is that the state budget is prepared in the autumn, and before elections this becomes particularly complicated, with plenty of disputes and a lot of emotions as well," the MP noted.
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Editor: Helen Wright
