Einar Vallbaum, governor of Estonia's West-Viru County who was implicated in the Reform Party's vote rigging scandal, announced on Friday he was leaving the party.
County governor implicated in vote rigging scandal quits Reform Party
14th June 2013, 17:14
Please note that the article is more than five years old and belongs to our archive. We do not update the content of the archives, so it may be necessary to consult newer sources.
Vallbaum said in a letter to fellow members of the party that the last few days had been tense for everyone and had sparked conflicting reactions and opposing attitudes and opinions, the online edition of the daily Postimees reported.
The governor said that although the Reform Party's court of honor did not question the legitimacy of his membership he has decided to leave in the interest of impartiality of further investigation. «I believe this to be fair in regard to members of the party, the public and the investigative commission alike,» he said.
Vallbaum joined the Reform Party in 2010. He was a member of the opposition Center Party in 2002-2009.
The governing board of the Reform Party last week expelled MEP Kristiina Ojuland, head of the party's West-Viru regional organization, over vote rigging in last month's internal elections. The development director of the West-Viru organization, Taimi Samblik, who admitted to manipulating the vote quit the party of her own accord. Vallbaum's participation in the voting fraud was not proven.
The party's work group looking into irregularities in internal elections has established 39 vote rigging instances in the West-Viru, 24 in the Viljandi and eight in the Voru county.