People gain a voice

TALLINN - The Estonian government gave, in principle, its support on Nov. 21 to a bill initiated by the parliament’s constitutional committee that will regulate the order of presenting and handling addresses made to the Riigikogu by way of public initiatives, the government communication unit announced.
The aim of the bill is to increase the inclusion of the general public in state management and give people a chance of participating in the state governance process between elections as well.

At least 1,000 support signatures from individuals over the age of 16 have to be collected to submit a collective address to the Riigikogu. The address needs to contain an explanation, at least three pages long, as to why the existing regulation is not satisfactory and a detailed proposal to change the valid regulation.

The parliament will be obliged to include proposals that are properly submitted into its agenda and process them. The Riigikogu board has to decide in 30 days whether the collective address corresponds to requirements and send it then to the proper parliament committee or return it to the contact person for correcting inadequacies.
The government did make some remarks about the bill, for example that the age level should be set at 18 years, which is stipulated in the Constitution as the legal voting rights age.