Estonian president to new Cabinet: You must be a crisis-solving government

TALLINN – When appointing the new three-party coalition government to office on Monday, Estonian President Alar Karis said that the new government must be a crisis-solving government during its eight months in office.

Noting that this is not a time for long speeches, the president said that the most appropriate thing to do is to let the ministers go to their ministries with the words "get to work."

"But still, I would add a few words. You all know that you have not been given a hundred days to settle in calmly, and it would be inappropriate, unfair, to ask for that now. Your work will start immediately, today, after the oath of office in the Riigikogu, and you will not get any more leave this summer," the president said according to spokespeople.

"You have been dubbed a crisis government. I do not agree with this definition. For eight months, you must be a crisis resolution government. Put metaphorically, you must be a firefighter or an  ambulance government. Whereas the house must not burn down and the patient must survive," the head of state told the new government.

The president listed security crisis, energy crisis, price rise crisis and coronavirus crisis as the crises affecting Estonia and all of Europe.

"Resolving them is the responsibility of you as political leaders in your respective domains, the responsibility of the prime minister as the leader of the government and the one who holds it together, as well as the responsibility of the chairs of the political parties that nominated you as ministerial candidates," Karis said, stressing that the new government is a three-party government and a three-party responsibility.

"You will be successful if, although it is difficult, you think as little as possible about the forthcoming parliamentary elections, if you can quickly grow into one team, if the coalition learns to breathe and step in the same rhythm with a few stumbles, if you see and understand also the opposition next to you," he said.

"Coalitions come and go, governments change -- this is an everyday part of democracy, the strength of our state organization. Of course, every minister and every government wants to leave a shining trail. I, and it would be wise for everyone to follow this, will not judge you in advance, but by what you did or did not do," the president added.