Stars aligned for fresh party to arise

Photo: Peeter Langovits / Postimees

Former head of Eesti Pank’s council Jaan Männik is in preparations for a non-profit association to be created in the fall, to evolve into a new political party.

According to Mr Männik, he is currently busy with paperwork as, by fall, statutes and a short programme will have to be finalised, describing the major challenges of Estonia’s society. «Right now, all stars are aligned for a party to emerge; even so, the final decision will come in November,» he said.

In the fall, he is planning to get an ASBL registered, which will have to enlist minimum 1,000 members to create a political party. «Once we have those, then I believe that sometimes around spring, about a year before the parliamentary elections, the ASBL will be reregistered as a political party,» said Mr Männik.

Right now, about a dozen volunteers have jumped into the preparations – without pay. Mr Männik specified that these are not people who would be overly well-known in Estonia.

Even so, those interested in being involved in the ASBL and party to be created are much more numerous, according to Mr Männik. «To many, I have said that I will contact them again, once the ASBL is ready,» said he, explaining that currently there is no legal person one could financially support or join as a member.

Asked if the entrepreneur and ex-politician Olari Taal is connected to the creation of the new party, Mr Männik said he had indeed talked to Mr Taal about the new project. «I have not talked to Mr Taal about financing [the party]; however, we have discussed the current political situation in Estonia,» said he.

According to Mr Männik, he would prefer diversified financing to one, two or three main contributors. «With diversified financing, support is broader – one would support certain principles and would not expect favours for one’s support,» he said.

The ASBL to be created is nameless as it stands; even so, the issue has been discussed for two-three months. «The problem being... the names we have been talking about already exist in the ASBL register,» said Mr Männik. Therefore, they are now searching for a vacant name. Asked about the positioning of the new political party, Mr Männik started by saying that in many European countries, differences in world view have diminished – this also being the case here. «Surely we will have nothing to do with socialism, with the traditional left. We will rather be a right wing party,» said he.

Of the major goals, to be concentrated into a short programme prior to creating the party programme, he stressed the priority of curbing the exodus.

«With Finnish average wages being €3,000 and ours under €1,000 – more than three times the difference – we will never halt the exodus. Estonia will have to become more prosperous, the wage gap needs to shrink; meaning we will have to focus at economic issues, the effectiveness of the state... the way the state is organised,» said Mr Männik.

Also, trust will have to be restored between politicians and the people. «We need new people to govern Estonia. And this is why we are creating the party,» stated Mr Männik.

From the summer of 2008 till this June, Mr Männik served as chairman of the Eesti Pank governing council. Earlier, he has led Eesti Telekom and Eesti Telefon, while sitting in the councils of various companies, both as chairman and member. In 2006, the then Res Publica set Mr Männik forward as a candidate for President. In 1972–1992, Mr Männik served at various positions in numerous Swedish exporting companies.