Estonian Parliament Authorizes Prime Ministerial Candidate Kallas To Form New Government

The Estonian parliament on Friday authorized Kaja Kallas, the head of the Reform Party and candidate for the office of prime minister, to form a new coalition government after her resignation from the post a day earlier

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2022) The Estonian parliament on Friday authorized Kaja Kallas, the head of the Reform Party and candidate for the office of prime minister, to form a new coalition government after her resignation from the post a day earlier.

"The Riigikogu (the Estonian parliament) authorised the candidate for PM @kajakallas to form a Government. On Monday at 3 p.m. (00:00 GMT), the new Government will take the oath of office before the Riigikogu," the parliament wrote on Twitter.

The representative body made the decision by 52 votes in favor, 26 against and 23 abstentions.

Following the announcement, Kallas delivered a speech to the Estonian parliament, during which she called Moscow the country's sole enemy and pointed to grave security concerns.

"Estonia is a recognized and respected player in the international arena. We have friends among many states and their leaders, we can be proud of this. We have only one enemy. This is Russia. We cannot accept the fact that it is Russia that has made the world around us much more dangerous than it seemed some time ago," Kallas said.

She further accused Moscow of allegedly causing a sharp increase in energy prices with a view to "bringing instability to the society.

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On June 3, then Prime Minister Kallas dissolved the coalition government, which was formed in 2021, due to a rift between her right-wing Reform Party and the leftist Center Party. Estonian President Alar Karis approved the dismissal of seven Center Party ministers in the 14-member cabinet, saying that Estonia needs an operational government.

This decision came two days after the Center Party and the Conservative People's Party voted against a Reform-sponsored bill that sought to make the Estonian language compulsory in elementary schools, with Kallas blaming the Center Party for "working inside the government against Estonia's most important core values."

On Thursday, July 14,� Kallas announced her resignation, citing the total collapse of the ruling coalition. The entire government resigned along with the prime minister. Karis proposed that Kallas form a new government.�

On Friday, leaders of the Reform Party, the Social Democratic Party and the conservative Isamaa (Fatherland) Party signed a coalition agreement. The coalition now needs a majority in the parliament � 55 mandates out of 101 � to take control of the government.