TALLINN - The Elections 2005 council has published a draft thesis of the united electoral bloc, which among other things is applying for the introduction of Estonian-Russian bilingualism in Tallinn.
According to the draft, the City of Tallinn must communicate with Russian-speakers in their native language as according to Article 51 of the Constitution.
The electoral bloc is also applying for the preservation of Russian-medium secondary education after 2007. Project authors agree that some subjects should be taught in Estonian in Russian schools, as long as respective preparations are guaranteed and the board of trustees has given its consent.
Tallinn, for its part, must ensure professional Estonian teaching in Russian-medium schools.
The draft consists of 15 points, including a proposal to stop the privatization of municipal cultural institutions. The Linnahall Concert Hall, the Salme Cultural Center, the Botanical Garden and the Russian Cultural Center are quoted as examples.
The council consists of representatives from the Estonian United People's Party, the Russian Party in Estonia, the Left Party and several other public organizations.
During their Aug. 2 meeting, the council decided to publish the draft for public discussion.
The ticket of the electoral bloc should be drawn up by the middle of this month.
Estonian United People's Party deputy chairman Anatoli Yegorov told the Baltic News Service that ideally, the ticket could be composed of 123 people. He said about 80 of them could be members of Estonian United People's Party and about 40 could come from the Left Party.
Yegorov said that the Russian Party could be represented by members of the Lasnamae chapter.
