TALLINN - Chairman of the Tallinn City Council Toomas Vitsut will face a no-confidence vote over a proposal to dissolve the boroughs of the capital city in favor of regional departments.
The bill, which was proposed by Vitsut's Center Party, has sparked impassioned debates over the future of the city's administrative districts. The bill would eliminate the boroughs in favor of ten regional departments administered by the Tallinn City government.
Opposition parties have now lodged a motion of no-confidence in Vitsut over the affair. News of the motion came shortly before a referendum on the topic, scheduled to last three days and come to a close shortly after The Baltic Times went to print.
The opposition Reformist Party, Pro Partia, Res Publica Union and Social Democratic party have all attacked the bill, claiming that its aim is to turn Tallinn into one electoral district in order to ensure a more favorable result in local elections.
The Reformist Party has launched a campaign to preserve the present boroughs. Remo Holsmer, the chairman of the party, said the reform would stymie the city government's ability to tackle issues specific to the different areas of the city.
"Each borough is different; therefore the problems of Pirita cannot be approached in the same way as the problems of Lasnamae. When boroughs are abolished you can no longer be sure that namely a person who lives in your borough and is familiar with its problems will ever get a place in the city's leadership," he said.
Holsmer has also accused municipal powers of trying to bypass the referendum. There has also been some controversy over the wording of the referendum.
According to Indrek Raudne, member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union faction in the City Council, the residents should be asked simply if they would like to keep the current borough structure.
"The results of the referendum will largely depend on how the question is raised. Considering the Center Party's known tricks it is to be feared that the most important part of the message for the residents of Nomme, Pirita and other boroughs will be hidden behind difficult trickery," Raudne said.
Chairman of the Social Democrats Jaak Juske likewise said the referendum planned by the Centrist Party is similar to Lukashenko-style politics in Belarus 's "somewhere in the dark and out from the eyes of the people."
Vitsut defended the bill, claiming the reforms would not affect the availability of social services in the city.
According to Vitsut, the dissolution of the boroughs as separate units will not result in a complete suspension of the activity of borough governments. He said the governments will be turned into regional departments and the change in their function wouldn't affect availability of public services.
Under the bill borough governments would be called advisory bodies and would not be able to function as working bodies issuing administrative acts.
"Substantially, the present administrative councils and the future advisory bodies will have an advisory role," Vitsut said.
Virtsut objected to claims that the referendum was rushed and people were not informed about it in advance.
"In the economic situation that has developed, it is absolutely necessary to carry out an administrative reform and it is not possible to wait with it," he said.
The chairman also said that he was not surprised by the motion of no-confidence.
"They expressed no confidence in me already after the local elections of 2005 and now they simply found a reason to repeat their stance," he said.
Center Party commands 34 of the 63 seats in the Tallinn council.
The opposition parties in the council are Reform, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union and Social Democrats 'sthe same three parties that make up the coalition government ruling Estonia.
The next local elections in Estonia are set for Oct. 18.
