Last week one of the biggest intrigues of Estonia’s political environment was finally resolved, specifically who will be the one to take over the Centre Party? The head of Tallinn municipality Mihhail Kõlvart came out as the winner.
Estonian public media ERR reported that on Sunday, the 10th of September, Kõlvart received 543 votes in his favour at the party’s congress. His opponent Tanel Kiik received 489 votes.
The intrigue was how Centre Party would develop under one leader or another. It is expected Kõlvart will likely push the party into a deeper confrontation against the Reform Party, which is led by PM Kaja Kallas. Under Kiik’s leadership, however, the Centre Party may become closer to this liberal party and even return to the coalition with Reform Party as their “new partner” – especially if Kallas is forced to step down following the scandal involving her husband’s business and ties to Russia.
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After his election, Kõlvart told the public media programme Vikerraadio: although he does not have any personal ambition to take the PM’s post, he would like to see his political party as the leading one in the Estonian government.
“Every party’s chairman must use the opportunity to serve in executive power. This is the objective, and there is no choice – to be only the head of a party and minister or simply serve as a party’s head and a city’s mayor. The Centre Party is not currently represented on the central level of the executive power, and the seat of the head of Tallinn municipality is our peak. I may have to combine these posts, which will be difficult. If the party’s leader aims for a seat in the government, these two posts have to be combined. This is similar to how leaders of government parties operate now,” he explained.
The party’s new leader adds that the question about his prime minister ambitions is as unoriginal as the answer to it. The answer is that he has ambitions. But he says these are not his personal ambitions: “My ambition is for Centre Party to become the prime minister’s party”.
Commenting on elections of the party’s new chairman, Kõlvart said his and his opponent’s chances were more or less even and
both had approximately the same number of supporters in the party.
“This is why I would rather not talk about victory. We will achieve victory once we have combined our potentials. This would be a real victory. If we could work together with Tanel, like we have so far in Tallinn, it will create opportunities, not risks.” [Before becoming a deputy in the Estonian parliament, Kiik worked for seven months as Kõlvart’s vice.]
Politicians from other parties publicly said that Tanel Kiik would be merely an “avatar” for the Centre Party to remain managed by its current chairman Jüri Ratas. Kiik was his assistant in the parliament and was in charge of his prime minister office. He later became the Minister of Public Affairs.
Ratas decided not to run for the party’s chairman position, because in March this year the party lost ten seats in the parliament (Riigikogu) – in the previous parliament it had 26 out of 101 seats, as well as the opportunity to join the government.
In 2021 Ratas had to step down as prime minister when multiple Centre Party representatives were accused of corruption. He did submit his candidacy to run for a seat in the European Parliament.
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ERR also reports that once the head of the Centre Party, a prominent Estonian politician, diplomat and historian Andra Veidemann announced her decision to leave the party immediately after Kõlvart was declared the winner. She said that
the new leader of the party did not mention Ukraine in his speech.
Kõlvart said he is sad about her decision, but he does consider her criticisms as unfair:
“I said at the congress – I know there are people in the party who do not support me and even feared this outcome. But I ask for time to prove I am worth taking this post. I ask to be given time to work and prove it through my actions.
As for Ukraine – it’s unfair towards me. I was one of the first Estonian politicians who visited Ukraine – in March last year, immediately after the start of the war. No other municipality can match Tallinn when it comes to support for Ukraine. We have taken in nearly 50 000 Ukrainians and we have received a lot of gratitude.”
In the recent parliamentary elections Centre Party’s financial state did not allow them to make promotional campaigns to match other parties. According to ERR, this may have been the reason why the party lost ten seats in the parliament.
Kõlvart said supporters will appear as soon as the party presents ideas: “We need to bring people together using clear messages. When you have people behind you, financial support will follow. This is simple math,” he said in an interview.
Together with Veidemann, at least thirty of Centre Party’s members have left.
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ERR also compiled the comments from leaders of other parties about Kõlvart’s victory. Leaders of both the populist Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) and nationalist conservative party Isamaa, as well as Social Democratic Party, predict that the Centre Party will likely reinforce positions among Estonia’s Russian-speaking voters, as well as pick up more conservative positions.
Isamaa party’s chairman Urmas Reinsalu announced that with Kõlvart’s victory
Estonia now has a Russian party.
“I believe Estonia now has a clearly-defined Russian party – if we look at Kõlvart’s previous policy as head of the municipality, as well as what the municipal administration did during his term. It, I believe, is still aimed against pro-Estonian policy,” said Reinsalu. “This is why this [Kõlvart’s election] will change Estonia’s policy.”
The leader of the nationalist party also does not believe Kõlvart’s election has put an end to the internal struggles within the party: “These conflicts remain.”
“Victory was secured with a very humble advantage. Representatives of the other camp make up a visible number in the party’s board. I don’t think this is a question of power only. Rather, I believe that where the Centre Party will now have to move on, and how things will evolve, the so-called ‘pro-Estonian’ members of the centrists still creates a fundamental conflict of values. This is why I predict we have seen only the first, not the last chapter of this saga.”
EKRE chairman Martin Helme said that Kõlvart’s victory stopped Centre Party from becoming more liberal. At the same time, it opened the way for cooperation between the two parties.
“I completely agree that Tanel Kiik would have been an extension of Jüri Ratas, and this is why he was overlooked,” said Helme. “The message I got from this congress is that Centre Party’s delegates rejected the so-called Ratas liberal path. This is a very clear ideological choice. The Centre Party, I believe, will become more conservative in many areas, starting with e-elections to topics related to homosexuals.”
“Expansion of the liberal front through the Centre Party was cancelled,”
said the leader of EKRE. According to him, Kõlvart’s election will change Estonia’s political landscape. However, Helme added, it is necessary to determine which political line Kõlvart plans to implement, because his beliefs are not clear as of yet.
Prominent social democratic politician and former leader of the party Jevgeni Ossinovski [who is the son of millionaire Oleg Ossinovski] said under Kõlvart’s leadership the Centre Party may try to restore their influence among Estonia’s Russian-speaking voters.
“There are topics important to Kõlvart and his voters. They are likely to become even more important now,” he told ERR. “He has even said that he is more conservative in his values. But I believe it is too soon to make any predictions. I allow that they believe this decision will result in Centre Party potentially fighting against the so-called Russian extremist party, if it survives”.
Jevgeni Ossinovski and Mihhail Kõlvart. Photo: Tallinn municipalityBy extremists Ossinovski means Aivar Peterson’s pro-Kremlin party Koos, which is accused of treason.
He also stressed the positive cooperation with the newly-elected centrist leader in Estonia’s capital city, where the two parties form the ruling majority. In previous years the Centre Party was in charge of Tallinn on its own. The city remains this party’s “bastion”.
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