Pillak: Anyone who wants to leave Reform should do so sooner rather than later
Tensions are simmering within the Reform Party after it lost its majority in the Riigikogu, and more members may leave in the coming months, experts say. However, the coalition is not expected to collapse.
The Reform-Eesti 200 coalition lost its majority last week after Kalev Stoicescu and Meelis Kiili left their respective parties.
Head of the Reform Party's Riigikogu faction, Õnne Pillak, said on Sunday that this will not significantly change the parliament's work in the autumn.
"We will have to look even more for areas of cooperation on important issues, and those need to be adopted. I think that in the major thematic areas or issues, this will not be difficult," Pillak said.
At the same time, Prime Minister and Reform Party chairman Kristen Michal acknowledged that the party is currently going through a difficult time.
"Quite a lot of different decisions need to be made and changes need to be made. We ourselves also need to be more active in explaining what is going well in the Estonian state and what we want to do in the future," he said.
The situation has also created tensions within the party. Pillak does not rule out that others may follow Kiili's departure.
"If anyone else feels that they do not feel comfortable with us, then it is better to make those decisions now rather than leave them until sometime in late autumn, because that is fair to everyone," Pillak said.
Political journalist Urmas Jaagant said there are certainly dissatisfied people within the party, but a change of leadership in the Reform Party is not to be expected at present.
"It is also difficult to imagine who would want to take the reins seven months before the elections, during which time things probably will not get very much better," Jaagant said.
The opposition does not appear to want to take on government responsibility either, the prime minister said.
"I have also told everyone that anyone who is able to put together a functioning majority coalition, whether from within or outside, and wants to do so, I will not put up any obstacles. On the contrary, I will help make it happen. Make the effort, put your shoulders together. This message is particularly for the opposition as well, which as of today, or this week, is actually in the majority," Michal said.
The next national election takes place in March 2027.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Johanna Alvin
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera
