16.10.2005
Municipal elections in Estonia VALIMISED 2005:
Brussels Will Force Tallinn to Speak Russian
|
|
Simon Araloff, AIA European section, Tallinn
|
Russian version
October, 16, 2005, elections to local municipal councils will take place in Estonia. Alongwith the spring resignation of the government, this is a major event in the internal political life of Estonia. The main theme of the elections is the strategic question of mutual relations with its eastern neighbour, Russia. The leadership of the European Union is actively carrying out secret workion support of those political forces in Estonia which advocate a changed position concerning Moscow and the Russian-speaking population of the country.
The Battle for the Capital
 |
|
| Tallinn (photo: Philip Game) |
|
Today, at 09:00 local Estonian time, elections to the managing bodies of 227 municipalities (Omavalitsus) of the the Estonian Republic,34 in the cities and 193 rural, began. Potential voters, the total number of whom is 1.057.789 persons out of 1.378.086 inhabitants of the country, will chose candidates from 17 political parties, which have 726 party lists and are included in 187 selective unions (joint lists of several parties.) In additin, , 67 person are independent candidates who are not connected to any party. The total number of candidates is 11.689. They vie for 3.109 places in municipal councils, which makes 4.7 candidates for each place. Against this background, the elections in Tallinn, the capital, are of greatest importance. Estonia is the agrarian country with a very low population density. In separate municipal councils, such, for example, as Ruhnu, the number of inhabitants reaches several tens. At the same time more than 400.000 persons lives in Tallinn, and that is more than a third of population of the country today. In such conditions, voting in the capital city parliament (Tallinna Linnavalitsus) merits a status practically equal to the parliamentary (Riigikogu) elections in the country. Moreover, the results of the elections to the Tallinn's parliament could provoke a parliamentary crisis. First of all, in case the structure of the capital government does not coincide in general with the structure of the government of the country, that will mean that two governments in the country will be operating simultaneously. If this happens, the real influence on political and economic processes will be in the hands of the capital's leadership. In addition, the victory of political forces which are not the ones that make today's coalition government, will mean that the present structure of the state parliament and the government has lost legitimacy in the eyes of the inhabitants of the capital; more than a third of potential voters in the forthcoming 2007elections to the state parliament.
According to the polls, 37 % of voters are going to take part in today's elections.That is much lower than the figure for 2002, when 52.5 % of the voters came to the polls.
The Major Players
According to the last polls, the greatest chances of success in the municipal elections have the large parties represented in the Estonian parliament. First of all, the parties included in the ruling coalition - the most popular Centrist party (Eesti Keskerakond), which joined before the elections with the Party of Pensioners (Eesti Pensionaride Erakond), the Reformist party (Eesti Reformierakond - a party of the Prime Minister Andrus Ansip) and the National union (Eestimaa Rahvaliit - a party of the President of the country Arnold Ruutel). Also quite a good chances of success have the other reoresented in Riigikogu parties - Res Publica (Uhendus Vabariigi Eest - Res Publica), Social-democratic party (Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond), and the Union of Fatherland (Isamaaliit), which concluded an agreement on the united list with the Assembly of farmers and the Democratic party.
The Centrists are the obvious favorites in these elections. Currently their party has regional organizations in all the cities and in more than a half of "volosts" (counties,) accounting, after joining with the with Party of Pensioners of Estonia, for about 10 thousand members. The Centrists have stable 25-30 % ratings, the highest on the country, and are in authority in 75 cities and "volosts" in Estonia. The party does not hide its ambitious goal for the autumn elections, which is to receive the majority of voices, and, hence, places in the local authorities. Under the slogan "For everyone!" it filed 169 electoral rolls (13 more than at the elections of 2002.) In addition, it joined a number of the electoral unions across Estonia. At the last election, the party was especially successful in the Southeast and Northeast of the country, in the cities of Narva, Kohtla-Jarve, Polva and Tallinn. And this time the leader of the Centrists, Edgar Savisaar, will fight for a post of Mayor of the Capital against the present mayor, Tonis Palts. The Centrist party set for itself the task of achieving an overwhelming majority in the capital's parliament.
The Russian-speaking minority of Estonia (about 30 % of the population of the country and about 50 % of the population of its capital), is represented by such parties as "The United People's party of Estonia " (ONPE), "The Russian association of the national union of Estonia", "The Russian party of Estonia" and "The Russian unity". All these parties are separated and failed to create a united platform before the elections in spite of the fact that at the end of June, 2005 they created the United electing union in Tallinn.
|
 |
|
Georgi Bistrov |
To the current elections they came in two blocs -"The Civil Initiative - Elections 2005 and "The List of Klensky. According to the last polls, together they will hardly get more than 1-2 % of the vote and will have no representatives in the local municipal councils. An exception might be only a suburb of the capital, the small town Maardu, where the mayor is Georgi Bistrov, the only Russian mayor in Estonia. The majority of the Russian-speaking deputies having real chances of victory are in the party rolls of such Estonian parties as the Centrist party and Res Publica. They will receive the majority of the vote of the Russian-speaking population. For example, in the Eesti Keskerakond's list of candidates across Tallinn there are such nominees as Viktor Vassiljev, Sergei Holstinin, Juri Poljakov, Aleksei Ivanov and Igor Gnezdilov.
A Geopolitical Prospect
During the present municipal elections, the agenda consists of of a set of the sharpest local questions. Despite its introduction into the EU into 2004, Estonia still suffers from a high rate of unemployment - according to data from 2004, 9.7 %, a low level of social security, a low birth rate, low competitiveness of the local agrarian sector in the European market, a low level of health services, etc. Another serious problem is the high level of corruption in the municipal councils. However, it is clear to everybody in Estonia that these problems are permanent and their solution will hardly be affected directly by the municipal elections. Their main theme concerns geopolitics and mutual relations of Estonia with its eastern neighbor, Russia. Considering the abovementioned strategic importance of municipal elections in Tallinn, various forces, both in the Estonia, and over its borders,are trying to transform these elections into a vote over the future foreign policy of the Estonian state.
In this connection it is necessary to explain that for the last several years Estonia, together with two other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, and also Poland, was in the advance guard of geopolitical confrontation with Russia.
The situation became aggravated this year after the refusal of the Estonian Parliament to ratify the agreement on the Russian-Estonian frontier, after its text had already been coordinated at the level of the Ministries for Foreign Affairs. Official Moscow saw this as an insult. Simultaneously, a sharp reaction by the Kremlin caused quite valid statements from Estonian politicians about the necessity for demanding compensation from Russia for its 45 years of occupation of Estonia. Finally, one more irritation for Putin's regime has become active participation by the present Estonian leadership in the encouragement of the process of democratization in the post-Soviet space. Especially negative was the Kremlin’s perception of the aspirations of official Tallinn to take part in the settlement of the conflict in Moldova, and also its participation in the geopolitical initiative on creation of the bloc consisting of the three Baltic States and the countries of Caucasus - Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Until recently the position of Estonia and other Baltic countries concerning Russia always found understanding in the European Union's leadership and they enjoyed active support on behalf of the American administration. However, for the last half year the geopolitical situation in the Baltic region changed drastically.
 |
|
| Andrus Ansip |
|
The results of the last parliamentary elections in Germany, and also probable assignment of Frank Walter Steinmeier to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of this country, evidently shows that Berlin will not change its course on "strategic partnership" with Moscow in the field of power. Moreover, Vladimir Putin's last visit to London one week ago shows that such countries as Britain, France and Belgium already stand in a queue to get connected to the future German-Russian gas pipeline. Simultaneously, information appeared regarding the development of cooperation in the power sphere between Russia and the USA. In such a situation the active position of Estonia and its East European partners in the "anti-Putin" bloc began to irritate the European Community's leadership. Brussels decided that the municipal elections in this country can be used for support of those political forces which will agree on mitigation of positions concerning Moscow, and also concerning the Russian-speaking minority of Estonia. including recognition of Russian as the second official language in the country. According to information received by the author from several European diplomats, contacts took place recently on this issue between representatives of the European Community and leading Estonian political forces.
More indirect proof of such discussions taking place is the the recent statement of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who said that his country does not wish to get any compensation from Russia for the period of occupation, and called his compatriots " to stop living in the past." In case of the success of the strategic line of the European Community's leadership, Estonia will become the first "neutralized" link in the chain of those East European countries, which are arrayed against Russia. It seems that nobody in Brussels remembers today that the occupation of the Baltics by the Soviet Union in 1940 originated with the refusal of Berlin to support Tallinn in its attempt to resist to imperial claims of Moscow…
Related items:
EU - Russia Summit: The Triumph of the Kremlin's Power Diplomacy (05.10.2005)
Russia Threatens Latvia with Economic Sanctions (18.08.2005)
Russia Prepares for Economic Conquest of the Baltic Countries (07.08.2005)
Main Page | News Page | 007 News | Print
|
|
|
|
