MEP Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, who won her seat in the European Parliament on the ticket of the opposition Center Party but quit the party in spring 2012, has joined the ruling Reform Party.
Estonian MEP Vilja Savisaar-Toomast joins Reform Party
14th June 2013, 16:43
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Savisaar-Toomast said she has always been a liberal at heart, who values and respects freedom of choice for herself and others alike regardless of gender, age, nationality or religion. «I have based my actions on the Liberal world view also in my work in the European Parliament during the past four years, where I am a member of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe,» Savisaar-Toomast said.
She added that the government led by the Reform Party demonstrated the capability in the crisis years to bring the economy out of a deep crisis and put it back on a growth track.
Vilja Savisaar-Toomast has been active in politics for more than 20 years, having occupied various positions in local government, the Riigikogu and on the European level. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2009.
Savisaar-Toomast is former wife of Edgar Savisaar, long-time leader of the Center Party and mayor of Tallinn.
The Reform Party is the senior half of the two-party coalition governing Estonia whereas Center, which governs alone in the capital Tallinn, is the largest opposition party in national parliament.