Meri infuriates with sacking of defense chief. Constitutional violation or just bad P.R.?

Jul 13, 2000
By Jaclyn M. Sindrich

The otherwise popular president has since endured the shaking heads and accusations of a host of MPs, who were not impressed with his swift move. The affair has made daily headlines in the Estonian press. This time, they say, Meri overstepped his boundaries.

Kert, who recently returned from a year-long, state-funded military study in the United States, was removed from his post, discharged to the reserves, and immediately replaced with - for the time being - Lt. Col. Aarne Ermus. No explanations were given.

But according to the Estonian constitution and the law on state defense in peace time, only Parliament has the right to release the nation's top military commander.

The governing body of the Estonian People's Union party has gone so far as to warn that Meri has caused a potential constitutional crisis. It is also preparing an inquiry to the legal chancellor on the procedure.

"The president has acted selfishly and unexpectedly," said the party's manager, Lea Kiivit. "Kert came back from America and was thrown out like a tenant from an apartment. The right procedure should have been that Meri take a proposal to Parliament, discuss it democratically, and then make the decision."

Meri did indeed issue a proposal, but then went ahead and signed Kert's year-old tender for resignation on June 30, and did so in such an abrupt manner that Parliament effectively had little say in the matter.

"There's nothing new for me here. Meri is behaving in relation to laws as he's always done," Center Party chairman Edgar Savisaar told the daily Postimees. "If the President of Estonia doesn't care at all about the laws, then why should some ordinary citizen of Estonia care about them more?"

Others have called Meri's move serious enough to jeopardize the country's bid for NATO membership.

Two expatriate groups lobbying in Washington for Estonia's accession to NATO - the Estonian World Council and the World Estonian Freedom - sent a letter to parliamentary speaker Toomas Savi and head of Parliament's defense committee, Tiit Tammsaar, in which they express shock over the defense force leadership changes, according to a Baltic News Service report.

"If such a step should be made, then Estonia's number one goal, accession to NATO, has received a very serious blow which cannot be neutralized with the help of expatriate Estonians any time soon," the letter said.

Defense Minister Juri Luik was far from convinced of the groups' claims. He told the daily newspaper Eesti Paevaleht that America cares about its best interests, not about Estonia's army leaders.

"Whom exactly we have in different offices here doesn't interest the Americans, it's our, Estonians' business," he said.

In the midst of the reaction, Meri, for the first time in over a year, called for a meeting of the national defense council to discuss restructuring of the armed forces and personnel issues - as well as the Kert matter.

Tammsaar is one of the seven members of the council, which also includes Prime Minister Mart Laar, Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Luik. The president indirectly admitted he was wrong, Tammsaar said, when at the meeting he agreed to convene an extraordinary session of Parliament to make a final decision on Kert's release.

The extra parliamentary session will take place August 28, at which time Col. Mart Tiru is expected to be promoted as defense forces commander. Tiru served as the acting army chief while Kert studied in the United States last year.

"The ball is now in Parliament's court," said presidential spokeswoman Epp Alatalu.

None of the council members have let on to the reasons Meri gave at the meeting for his actions. The extra session will also be held behind closed doors for state security reasons. However, in a subsequent interview with Eesti Paevaleht, Meri hinted that Kert was opposed to structural reform, which is one of the major items on the armed forces' agenda.

"The defense forces are facing structural reforms that will make them more efficient and flexible," the paper quoted the president as saying. "To carry out structural reform, we need a leader of the defense forces who is firmly convinced of its necessity and is able to guide the reforms with a steady hand."

Tammsaar explained in an interview that the situation is more of a public relations disaster for Meri rather than a bona fide constitutional crisis. "I am absolutely convinced this is not a crisis. It is not so damaging as it looks," he assured.

The president has offered Kert the post of army commander, a position Tammsaar said is well-suited to him, as the 40-year-old lieutenant colonel's training in the United States was geared toward army leadership.

"Eighty percent of Estonian defense forces are the army. So far, Estonia doesn't have a structure for the army. He is being asked to build up that structure," he said.

Meri also appointed Kert to join a working group with Tiru and Luik for staff reorganization.

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