Opposition members in the City Council failed to change the power in Tallinn, although they were rather self-confident last week.
"We are sure it (the vote) will pass," Toivo Tootsen, chairman of City Council's Center faction, told The Baltic Times on Oct. 30, three days before the vote.
Tootsen is optimistic even now, though the motion failed.
"I am sure we still achieved some kind of victory," he said, adding that an officials' wage rise was rejected by the coalition.
"The coalition will revise its general strategy in accordance with the results of the recent no-confidence procedure," said Tootsen. One and a half hours before the no-confidence session Mois and People's Choice made an oral cooperation agreement, and seven councilors that form the People's Choice faction did not attend the session. The Opposition's no-confidence vote failed.
All coalition council members left the room for the vote, and the Russian factions - People's Choice and People's Trust - did not show up to seal the mayor's fate. People's Choice signed the cooperation protocol along with other opposition members on Oct. 24, one day before Mois' 44th birthday, but the mayor was not frustrated by such a present from the very beginning and said he had controlled the situation.
The fickle Russian faction People's Choice, which changed its political loyalty twice in a week, is now seen as a kingmaker. Nikolai Maspanov, of People's Choice, said he will quit the coalition if the mayor does not fulfill promises included into the cooperation agreement of Nov. 2.
The agreement included such points as making the Russian language obligatory for city officials, leasing the Nevski Cathedral to the Moscow Orthodox Church and others. Mois also promised to create an extra office of one more deputy mayor especially for the People's Choice faction. The person holding the new post would compose an integration program for Russian-speaking Tallinners.
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