Estonian PM: Kama wouldn't pass legal committee now

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

As things stand now, deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Justice Priit Kama would not get the approval of the majority of the Riigikogu legal affairs committee for appointment as national police chief, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said.

Ansip said on a broadcast of the Vikerraadio station of the public broadcaster ERR that according to his knowledge Kama would not get the standing committee's approval at this point, but things can change. He said that Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher may prove to the legal affairs committee Kama's suitability for the post of director general of the Police and Border Guard Board and in such case the situation may be different.

Ansip would not say whether or not he personally supports Kama's candidacy. "Naming the candidate for director general of the Police and Border Guard Board is the right and duty of the minister. I leave the right to name the candidate to the interior minister. When the interior minister has named the candidate and gets the legal committee's approval, the whole government will make the final decision," he said.

The prime minister said the competition to find a candidate for the job was poorly carried out and the people who participated in it got a negative tag fully undeserved.

Ansip added however that the developments surrounding the appointment of the new leader of the Police and Border Guard Board were not destabilizing cooperation between the Reform Party and Pro Patria and Res Publica Uuion (IRL) in the ruling two-party coalition. "This isn't so much of an issue indeed. I'm sure that we will find a worthy candidate for the post of director general of the Police and Border Guard Board. Cooperation between IRL and the Reform Party is good and one shouldn't see each and every problem as set to become fatal for the coalition. We've had much more serious issues than this one," the leader of Reform said.

Meeting with Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher on Thursday, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said the director general of the Police and Border Guard Board cannot be appointed to office without the approval of the Riigikogu legal affairs committee.

"It is important for the minister of interior to explain openly and frankly his actions in that direction. In parliamentary Estonia it isn't possible to appoint to office the director general of an institution so important as the Police and Border Guard Board without the approval of the Riigikogu legal affairs committee. The same has been said by Prime Minister Ansip. That principle cannot be backed down on," spokespeople quoted the president as saying.

The candidates for the top jobs at the Police and Border Guard Board and the Rescue Board could be put before the legal affairs committee on March 18. "It's the minister who holds the keys," the chairman of the legal committee, IRL deputy Marko Pomerants, told BNS on Thursday. He explained that the parliament will not be in session next week and what comes next depends on negotiations with party groups in the Riigikogu.

The legal affairs committee on Monday voted down a change in the agenda of its Thursday meeting proposed by Pomerants, who wanted Kama's introduction to be the first item of the day. However, only Pomerants and Siim Kabrits, a fellow member of IRL, backed the proposal while seven members of the panel including lawmakers from the Reform Party, IRL's partner in the governing coalition, voted against.

Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher comes from IRL.

Police and border guard chief Raivo Kuut tendered his resignation in November in the wake of a scandal over speeding fines issued by officers of the East Prefecture based on readings from an uncalibrated speed measuring device and subsequent cover-up of the case. Citing the need to complete tasks undertaken in relation to the merger of the Police Board, the Border Guard Board and the Citizenship and Migration Board, the minister of interior accepted Kuut's resignation effective from March 1. The duties of director general were assumed in a temporary capacity from Friday by Tonu Hunt, deputy director general for border guard.

In the procedure to fill the post of director general of the Rescue Board the evaluation committee last week recommended the minister to nominate to the post Kuno Tammearu, currently deputy director general of the Rescue Board. The top job at the Rescue Board became vacant at the expiry of the term of its previous director general, Kalev Timberg.

The heads the Police and Border Guard Board and Rescue Board are appointed to office by the government at the interior minister's proposal.