EU constitution poll promises fall flat

  • 2004-10-06
  • Baltic News Service
TALLINN - Though several political parties insisted before the European Parliament elections in June that a referendum on the constitutional treaty should be held, few supporters of such a step remain.

The signing of the EU constitution in Rome on Oct. 29 is three weeks away, but the debate on the treaty appears to be petering out rather than taking off, as the daily Eesti Paevaleht pointed out this week.

The People's Union and the Center Party directly and officially gave assurances of their support for a referendum as recently as in May through resolutions of the parties' council and board, respectively.

Leading members of the ruling Res Publica party likewise expressed support for a referendum.

"I was the only representative of Estonia who was putting together the constitution in the convention on the future of Europe and who gave his signature in support of a referendum," Urmas Reinsalu, chairman of the parliamentary constitutional committee was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Juhan Parts also declared before the June election that he had no fear of a referendum, yet the Parts-led government decided in September that no referendum would be necessary.

People's Union Chairman Villu Reiljan said the Cabinet discussed the question, but his party did not join the debate. According to Reiljan, the party is going to formulate an opinion on the issue even though leading members of the party have already two diametrically opposite decisions behind them.

Mart Helme, member of the People's Union board who was recently expelled from the party, described this attitude as political opportunism. "In reality, European affairs have never been of interest to anyone on the party leadership level because, being pragmatic politicians, Villu Reiljan and others take roughly the attitude that come what may, the main thing is for us to get our small gain," he said.

Uno Silberg, a Euroskeptical member of the People's Union, said he believed the party should stick by the council resolution, and that the EU's constitution should be put to a referendum since it contains radical changes.

Siiri Oviir, a Centrist member of the European Parliament, said she believed that her party was for a popular vote on the constitution but added that in comparison with the previous EU fundamental documents the new constitution contained few changes. In her opinion, the public should be better informed of the document.

Reinsalu said the Riigikogu (Estonia's parliament) would probably address the issue in November. The debate should go hand-in-hand with a more thorough judicial analysis that he said was necessary to establish whether the Estonian constitution would have to be amended.