Gains at both ends of the political spectrum in Estonia’s local elections

Parties representing the old political establishment held their ground in Estonian local elections on Sunday, but newcomers from the opposite ends of the political spectrum made significant gains.

The two parties in the government, the Center Party and Reform, managed to get to top the polls in the country’s local elections, though both experienced losses. The Center, most popular nationwide, gathered 24.4%, and Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’s Reform took 17.3% of the votes.

The real winners came from opposing ends of the political map. The populist, national-conservative, Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) almost doubled its support to 13.2% and became the fourth most popular party in the country.

Counterbalancing EKRE’s success, and showing a widening gap in Estonian politics, was the emergence of Eesti 200. Making new headway in local elections, the liberal-minded party gathered 6% support.

Chaired by Kristina Kallas, the Director of Tartu University Narva College, Eesti 200 was founded in 2018. Popular in academic circles and creative and business communities, it wants to establish itself as a force outside old political parties and structures.

According to its programme, the aim is to “build a strong state of the future where the rights, freedoms, and self-realisation of each person are based on democratic governance, personal freedoms, and rule of law”. Interviewed on Monday in the Vikerhommik radio show, political scientist Tõnis Saarts described Eesti 200 as a movement to reckon with in the future. Entry into the national parliament at the 2023 elections is now a real possibility.

The local polls also had a European flavour. Some 25,000 EU citizens were able to cast a ballot, and 31 stood as candidates. The turnout was a mere 54.7%, though electronic voting levels reached a new high.

(Pekka Vänttinen | EURACTIV.com)