Estonian president criticizes behavior of both coalition, opposition re referendum bill

TALLINN - According to Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, several of the opposition's amendments to the draft resolution on holding a referendum on the definition of marriage, which have received attention in recent days, as well as the behavior of the coalition to impose its will are inappropriate, the daily Postimees writes.

Kaljulaid has been pressured by several coalition politicians to unequivocally condemn the opposition Reform Party's amendments to ask, among other things, in a referendum whether life would be better in Estonia if we belonged to the Russian Federation and whether Saaremaa should be ceded to Latvia.

"The head of state is, of course, closely monitoring what is going on in the parliament and is constantly in contact with various political forces and constitutional institutions," public relations advisor to the president Taavi Linnamae told Postimees.

"The proposals referred to, as well as many other proposals made by the opposition, are, of course, inappropriate and also damage the image of our country, because it is too optimistic to hope that the whole world will delve into the political 'games' of our parliament," the head of state said.

"Likewise, a number of steps taken by the coalition to impose its will and limit the opposition's opportunities to have a say are also inappropriate and legally questionable," Kaljulaid added.

It is to discuss these issues that the head of state has arranged meetings with party leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Chairman of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) and Minister of Finance Martin Helme has promised not to attend a meeting with the president.