TALLINN- Estonian President Arnold Ruutel, signed a memorandum on March 31, appointing Reform Party chairman Andrus Ansip for prime minister. He was accompanied by leaders of the Reform Party, the People's Union and the Center Party.
Ruutel expressed hope that the new government would be formed relatively soon, and it that would start carrying out its national duties.
He commemorated the combination of three relatively different parties, saying that the Reform Party had experience in economic development, while the Center Party and the People's Union excelled in supporting the social sphere.
Ansip, the appointed candidate for PM, said it was only the beginning, and that coalition talks would not be easy. He did, however, state that the coalition would be signed within its scheduled time period.
Furthermore, Ansip, Center Party chairman Edgar Savisaar and People's Union leader Villu Reiljan all promised that the coalition would last until the next elections.
The candidate will present a report to Parliament on ground rules for the proposed government within 14 days.
Parliament will then decide in an open vote whether Ansip is authorized to form his Cabinet, after which the latter will have seven days to certify this with the president. The head of state will then appoint the government within three days.
Representatives of all three parties have declared that they would start preparations for the formation of a coalition. The parties have 52 representatives in Parliament.
