EKRE group doesn't demand Madison's resignation

Photo: Elmo Riig / Sakala

The parliamentary group of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) found on Thursday that MP Jaak Madison does not have to vacate his parliamentary seat following revelations that a court recently punished him with a fine for the appropriation of a smartphone.

The same topic is to be discussed by the party's governing board next week.

The head of the EKRE group in the Riigikogu, Martin Helme, said on social media that at Thursday's meeting of the parliamentary group he repeated his proposal for Madison to give up his mandate to stop the party and himself taking fire.

«The parliamentary group discussed the matter and once again heard Jaak's explanations, finding that a step like this would not be a fair and proportional punishment considering the actions that Jaak committed. It was also decided that in a situation like this it isn't right to yield to outside pressure. We also found that the proper body for discussing things like this is the board of the party, which is a body of individuals who received a mandate from the convention of the party,» Helme said.

He said Madison once again admitted to improper behavior and regretted it. «The board will meet on Monday to discuss the same subject,» Helme said.

In was revealed on Tuesday that Madison, 23, who was elected to parliament on the EKRE list in the March 1 polls, was recently fined 100 euros for illegal appropriation of a passenger's smartphone and selling it online while working as member of the customer service staff on a ship of Tallink.

At the beginning of March the media reported extensively about a blog post made by Madison several years ago which justified the practices of the Nazi regime. This caused an uproar in the society and the Reform Party, which won the March 1 elections, ruled EKRE out from the lineup of potential partners in a government coalition.