For the time being, weeks filled with tension and debates are behind us. The judgment passed by voters has been delivered to politicians. Like it or not, the result is likely to be quite an honest picture of political picture in Estonia.
Editorial: celebrating democracy
27th May 2014, 19:02
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After a time of insecurity and confusion, the victorious Reform Party managed to execute generational shift at top levels and offer credible candidates to dispatch to Brussels. Placement of former Prime Minister Andrus Ansip as No 1 at the last moment turned out a clever move, his experience from European Councils warranting him a harvest of votes. Whoever did not like Mr Ansip could support the independent-looking Kaja Kallas. The side effect being a possible windfall of benefits to Igor Gräzin, a guy with a smaller mandate altogether.
On the wings of the Russian speaking voter, Centre Party is sending the controversial Yana Toom to be MEP. The lady’s hefty catch of votes clearly reflects the party’s current face and direction. The «Hello Edgar!» electoral ads by centrists who gleefully predicted Centre Party chairman to emerge as champion was proven to be mere wind. Outside of the home walls of Lasnamäe, the myth of Savisaar the Unbeatable Votes Magnet was shattered to smithereens. The Estonian speaking Centre Party voter nodded nicely towards Jüri Ratas and Kadri Simson, but that was not too much. Instead of status quo, the party now has a cloud of question-marks hanging over them.
IRL and soc dems did as they were expected to. Both get one MEP. With IRL, it was classic team work raising Tunne Kelam to be Estonia’s only triple-term MEP – all three in a row. For soc dems, the vastly experienced Marju Lauristin is a decent and solid input.
Who could explain the phenomenon of Indrek Tarand? Perhaps, it was the inertia of his rocket-like burst on the scene in 2009. But he definitely has got some special mojo going for him: at almost zero campaign, the guy gets nearly the support of IRL or soc dems. Thus, Indrek Tarand is a one-man-party offering the voter something outside the big European political families, yet an alternative close enough to the mainstream and quite harmless.
No other «Tarands», this time. Tanel Talve got over 10,000 votes and Silver Meikar’s 6,000 plus were not bad, but a far cry from a mandate.
At EU elections, Estonia fell into the category of states where generally the government was supported, the political mainstream favoured, and every extreme rejected. That’s good bedrock from which to enhance the fragile-looking economy. In less than a year, the Estonian voter gets the big political lever in his/her hand: time to elect the Riigikogu.