The Mayor of Narva Katri Raik was dismissed from her post following a no-confidence vote.
19 deputies voted in favour of her removal, eight voted against and three abstained in the vote.
There are 31 deputies in Narva City Council. 18 of them have recently joined forces in a new faction “Narva”. This faction was the one that initiated the no-confidence vote.
This faction combined deputies from Centre Party and their supporters.
Vice-Mayor Yelena Golubeva was appointed as acting mayor. Now deputies have two months to elect a new mayor.
Before the extraordinary meeting, approximately 300 supporters of Raik had gathered outside the city council. In her speech before the vote, the politician said Narva “should be facing Estonia”.
As the main reason for the mayor’s dismissal, “Narva” chairman Aleksejs Jevgrafovs mentioned her inability to ensure the preservation of Soviet-era street names in the city. According to him, they are very important to the residents of Narva.
The absolute majority of residents in Narva, which is located close to the Estonian-Russian border are Russians. Only 5% of residents there are Estonians.
Raik was also criticised for the fact that the municipality’s additional budget plan was submitted to deputies a mere two hours before the meeting meant to address it.
Raik was elected as the Mayor of Narva in December 2021.
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