Centre Party repeats 2009 result. IRL improves positions. Reform Party loses votes all across the land. Soc dems, suffering a few devastating defeats, also snatch some sweet deals.
Shock surprises, sudden triumphs and defeats
22nd October 2013, 15:22
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.
Local elections offer five grand conclusions on politics in Estonia. Let’s start with Centre Party. Roughly, they repeated their result of four years ago. All said, it equals victory in Tallinn and cities of Ida-Viru County, plus some smaller places (like Valga). Even so, it is taking Tallinn that serves to foster their image as the winner.
On the other hand, the Centrist figures also reveal that, in a way, they have reached the ceiling: no more space for growth, in various counties they have fallen to be outsiders. Thus [pursuant to Estonian school results system, 1 to 5 as highest – edit] Centre Party would get a 5 in Tallinn, and 4 for the rest of Estonia (decent, but no advancements, really).
Secondly, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) clearly raised its stakes. Achieving a clear-cut 2nd place in Tallinn, they also were No 2 in pan-Estonian context – quite an advancement compared to 2009. So, IRL would get a 5. It remains to be seen, however, how the votes can be converted into concrete council seats.
Thirdly, Social Democratic Party (SDE), this time having its share of victory and defeat. In Tallinn, soc dems were devastated. Mayor candidate Andres Anvelt netting 1,614 votes; the last time, while much less known and written about, the total was 1,195.
All in all, soc dems were supported by 9.9 per cent of Tallinners, only a little better that last time’s 9.8. Catastrophically for them, soc dems totally failed in Lasnamäe, defeated even by IRL and Reform Party – a clear sign that in Tallinn, at least, grabbing Russian-language voters failed.
Regarding Estonia as a whole, soc dems did a step forward: last time supported by 7.5 per cent of voters, this time the percentage was 12.5 along with some sweet victories as best illustrated Kuressaare, in Saaremaa.
The most obvious loser of the elections was Reform Party. Defeated in Tallinn, they also lost positions in the rest of Estonia. Which means not there weren’t any wins. For instance, in Tartu and Haapsalu they took their traditional 1st places; even so, in the case of Tartu, for the third time running the trend is somewhat in decline.
And, finally, the election coalitions. In Tartu, a whopping two of these made it into the council (Isamaaline Tartu Kodanik and Vabakund). In Tallinn, Vaba Tallinna Kodanik did net four per cent of votes and failed to cross threshold, but basically they did well. The issue now being: what will they do next?
Vote magnets
Always, elections come with some surprising personal results. Some being bona fide shockers, others having worked hard at it.
A star surpriser, no doubt, was world traveller Hannes Hanso, conquering Kuressaare by 978 votes, his clear lead pulling soc dems to a victory and felling the long-time ruler Reform Party.
A bright result was shown, in Narva, by Riigikogu member Yevgeni Ossinovsky. By 36 per cent of votes, soc dems were defeated by Centre Party; still, Mr Ossinovsky rose to be the town’s most popular politician.
In some sense, Narva also offers the second biggest surprise: namely, Riigikogu member Mikhail Stalnukhin – for years showing miraculous results in the border town – this time took a meagre haul of 1,338 votes and was beaten big by Mr Ossinovsky (2,403 votes). Overall victory, of course, went to Centre Party; still, Centrists got 20 per cent less votes than the last time, soc dems forming a strong opposition in Narva.
A sure surprise was served by Anti Allas, head of Võru County government development department, who entered politics in soc dems ranks and immediately achieved best result in Võru town (479), taking his party to close second after Reform Party.
A rising soc dems star is Rainer Vakra, Riigikogu member running in Nõmme: with 4,236 votes, he showed sixth best result in Tallinn. Without Mr Vakra, formerly of Centre Party, soc dems might have faced total destruction in Tallinn.
In a way, Eerik-Niiles Kross may also be considered a surprise. Sure, he has been much talked about already. Still, by these elections, he rose to national fame and became prominent within his party with close to 7,000 supporters.
Of IRL candidates in Tallinn, excellent results were also achieved by Riigikogu member Liisa-Ly Pakosta and long-time city councillor Tarmo Kruusimäe – both almost doubling their votes from four years ago. Unlike Mr Kross, coming fourth with a big bang, the latter two have worked long and hard in the nitty-gritty of municipal politics.
As a new success, IRL managed to bring into Tallinn politics Yoko Alender, who won Postimees’ online debates and took nearly 2,000 votes in North Tallinn. For contrast: the entire Reform Party list only netted 2,200 votes in that part of town.
In IRL, Ando Kiviberg also performed a mighty rise, with eight times more votes that the last times (from 107 to 809) – by far the most popular politician in Viljandi. His performance nearly matched by mayor of Kärdla, Georg Linkov.
Surprises were also served by Centre Party. In Kohtla-Järve, for instance, an overwhelming victory went to senior specialist at social care centre Vladimir Evve, personally awarder nearly as many votes (1,346) as the three next candidates put together.
The flops
Finally, a word on the losers. Both Valdo Randpere and Andres Anvelt (Reform and soc dems mayor of Tallinn candidates, respectively), did altogether fail. As did, in Lasnamäe, the SDE chairman Sven Mikser, not even making it into the council.
For SDE, a bitter defeat was served in Tartu: not too long ago they contended for top spot, in polls; ending up fourth, even behind Centre Party. The soc dems will now need to think: do they give their Tartu mayor candidate Heljo Pikhof one more chance or seek for a new leader in Tartu.
Surely, Reform Party is staring mournfully at the figures at Kuressaare – having just lost their long-time bastion. Having also failed in Valga: after 2009 victory they now landed second, the second most popular former mayor Ivar Unt only supported by 90 voters this time around.
In Narva, Mr Stalnukhin definitely flopped with votes three times less than in 2009. What about his European Parliament ambitions, now?
A clear defeat was suffered by Mart Helme and the entire Conservative People’s Party (EKRE).
Ehen it comes to cabinet ministers running in Tallinn, all did a decent result; as compared to four years ago, however, they lost out.
Foreign minister Urmas Paet, justice minister Hanno Pevkur, social minister Taavi Rõivas, economy minister Juhan Parts, interior minister Ken-Marti Vaher – all got less votes than in 2009. With some, direct comparisons will not work as the districts varied; with some, they did not. Generally, it feels, nationally known politicians had less impact at these local elections. In Pärnu, for instance, culture minister Rein Lang settled for 29 votes only.
---------------------------------------------------
Local votes top 50
No Candidate Votes List Local Govt
1. Edgar Savisaar 39,979 Centre Party Tallinn
2. Jüri Ratas 8,017 Centre Party Tallinn
3. Eerik-Niiles Kross 6,897 IRL Tallinn
4. Yana Toom 5,328 Centre Party Tallinn
5. Mihhail Kõlvart 5,307 Centre Party Tallinn
6. Urmas Kruuse 5,292 Reform Party Tartu city
7. Rainer Vakra 4,237 SDE Tallinn
8. Viktor Vassiljev 4,079 Centre Party Tallinn
9. Toomas Kivimägi 3,338 Toomas Kivimägi VL Pärnu city
10. Margus Tsahkna 3,260 IRL Tartu city
11. Kadri Simson 2,939 Centre Party Pärnu city
12. Mihhail Korb 2,672 Centre Party Tallinn
13. Urmas Paet 2,633 Reform Party Tallinn
14. Andrei Novikov 2,606 Centre Party Tallinn
15. Urmas Reinsalu 2,509 IRL Tallinn
16. Olga Ivanova 2,450 Centre Party Tallinn
17. Jevgeni Ossinovski 2,403 SDE Narva city
18. Valdo Randpere 2,343 Reform Party Tallinn
19. Juhan Parts 2,310 IRL Tallinn
20. Tarmo Kruusimäe 2,281 IRL Tallinn
21. Liisa-Ly Pakosta 2,113 IRL Tallinn
22. Ken-Marti Vaher 2,035 IRL Tallinn
23. Yoko Alender 1,991 IRL Tallinn
24. Sven Mikser 1,951 SDE Tallinn
25. Hanno Pevkur 1,759 Reform Party Tallinn
26. Heljo Pikhof 1,733 SDE Tartu city
27. Andres Anvelt 1,614 SDE Tallinn
28. Jürgen Ligi 1,606 Reform Party Tallinn
29. Martin Helme 1,596 EKRE Tallinn
30. Rein Ratas 1,537 Centre Party Tallinn
31. Erki Nool 1,527 IRL Tallinn
32. Margarita Tšernogorova 1,449 Centre Party Tallinn
33. Eiki Nestor 1,414 SDE Tallinn
34. Taavi Rõivas 1,405 Reform Party Tallinn
35. Indrek Saar 1,391 SDE Tallinn
36. Mart Nutt 1,352 IRL Tallinn
37. Vladimir Evve 1,346 Centre Party Kohtla-Järve
38. Mihhail Stalnuhhin 1,338 Centre Party Narva city
39. Karin Tammemägi 1,335 Centre Party Tallinn
40. Kalev Vapper 1,333 IRL Tallinn
41. Aleksandr Tšaplõgin 1,326 Centre Party Tallinn
42. Aleksandr Jefimov 1,290 Centre Party Narva city
43. Juri Poljakov 1,288 Centre Party Tallinn
44. Erki Savisaar 1,273 Centre Party Tallinn
45. Igor Kravtšenko 1,270 Centre Party Tallinn
46. Marek Jürgenson 1,265 Centre Party Tallinn
47. Aadu Must 1,259 Centre Party Tartu city
48. Aivar Riisalu 1,208 Centre Party Tartu city
49. Keit Pentus-Rosimannus 1,184 Reform Party Tallinn
50. Toomas Vitsut 1,181 Centre Party Tallinn
Local elections’ top 50 by percentage of votes
No Candidate % of votes in district List District County
1. Edgar Savisaar 67.0 Centre Party Tallinn, district No 4 Harju County
2. Oleg Kuznetsov 50.5 VL Koduvald Illuka Illuka commune Ida-Viru County
3. Kuno Erkmann 47.9 VL Parem Paikuse Paikuse commune Pärnu County
4. Kalmer Sarv 34.2 VL Koduvald Õru commune Valga County
5. Kalmer Poopuu 33.5 VL Koostöö Salme commune Saaremaa
6. Peep Vassiljev 32.2 VL Üheskoos Sõmeru commune Lääne-Viru County
7. Ervin Tamberg 32.0 IRL Mõisaküla city Viljandi County
8. Kalev Kaljuste 30.8 SDE Tootsi commune Pärnu County
9. Marko Šorin 30.4 Centre Party Sindi city Pärnu County
10. Andres Hanso 30.2 SDE Pöide commune Saaremaa
11. Enel Liin 29.2 VL Koduvald Veriora Veriora commune Põlva County
12. Jaanika Tiitson 27.9 VL Elujõuline Koduvald Lümanda commune Saaremaa
13. Maano Koemets 27.9 VL Rannu Rannu commune Tartu County
14. Filimon Kuznetsov 27.8 VL Kodupaik Piirissaare commune Tartu County
15. Andrea Eiche 27.3 VL Meie Commune Sonda commune Ida-Viru County
16. Heiki Kukk 27.0 single candidate Ruhnu commune Saaremaa
17. Arto Saar 26.7 VL Järva-Jaani Heaks Järva-Jaani commune Järva County
18. Eerik-Niiles Kross 26,5 IRL Tallinn, district No 2 Harju County
19. Jüri Morozov 26.5 SDE Saare commune Jõgeva County
20. Jarno Laur 25.9 SDE Väätsa commune Järva County
21. Jaan Aiaots 25.9 SDE Põltsamaa city Jõgeva County
22. Veljo Kingsep 25.8 VL Kodupaik Mäetaguse commune Ida-Viru County
23. Raido Liitmäe 25.7 IRL Muhu commune Saaremaa
24. Andrus Blok 25.5 VL Koduvald Rakke Rakke commune Lääne-Viru County
25. Priit Lomp 25.2 VL Koduvald Haaslava Haaslava commune Tartu County
26. Raimu Aardam 25.2 VL Koduvald Kihelkonna commune Saaremaa
27. Ludvik Mõtlep 24.6 VL Koduvald Leisi Leisi commune Saaremaa
28. Lauri Luur 24.1 VL Ühtne Koduvald Are commune Pärnu County
29. Jozsef Weinrauch 23.8 VL Pala – meie koduvald Pala commune Jõgeva County
30. Aarne Laas 23.8 single candidate Laekvere commune Lääne-Viru County
31. Aivar Aleksejev 23.6 Reform Party Ülenurme commune Tartu County
32. Mart Järvik 23.6 VL Järvakandi kant Järvakandi commune Rapla County
33. Monika Rogenbaum 23.6 IRL Taheva commune Valga County
34. Raivo Raap 23.6 Reform Party Iisaku commune Ida-Viru County
35. Leemet Vaikmaa 23.4 VL Koostöö Padise commune Harju County
36. Jüri Ratas 23.2 Centre Party Tallinn, district No 5 Harju County
37. Vilmar Rei 23.1 VL Laimjala Laimjala commune Saaremaa
38. Mihkel Undrest 22.7 VL Sõrulased Torgu commune Saaremaa
39. Etti Kagarov 22.4 SDE Kohtla commune Ida-Viru County
40. Kalevi Kaur 22.4 IRL Kolga-Jaani commune Viljandi County
41. Tarmo Riisk 21.7 VL Koduvald Kõo commune Viljandi County
42. Jaanus Männik 21.6 VL Koostöö Surju commune Pärnu County
43. Tiit Toots 21.6 VL Meie Rõuge Rõuge commune Võru County
44. Elari Hiis 21.6 IRL Käru commune Rapla County
45. Margus Jaanson 21.4 Reform Party Juuru commune Rapla County
46. Ivar Tedrema 21.3 VL Koduvald Kambja commune Tartu County
47. Kalju Kertsmik 21.0 IRL Albu commune Järva County
48. Jüri Mets 20.4 SDE Tootsi commune Pärnu County
49. Toomas Rohu 20.4 VL Tõstamaa Tõstamaa commune Pärnu County
50. Tarmo Tamm 20.4 SDE Helme commune Valga County