The main accusations set out in the motion bill were the government's lack of transparency in the railway privatization proceedings this year, negligence of rural and regional policy and increasing unemployment.
According to the bill, which was introduced by the opposition Center Party faction in Parliament and written by the party's chairman, Toomas Varek, Laar's government has been consistently reducing the budget allotments for regional policy.
According to the opposition, the agricultural sector has been suffering along with the availability of services there, taking most of Estonia's rural population with it.
Laar said in a speech before the Parliament vote that the ruling coalition, which consists of the Reform Party, the Moderates and the Pro Patria Union, is not about to drop the program outlined in the coalition's policy agreement and has made a serious effort to realize the points listed in it.
Laar said that the achievements of his government are clear. They include steady economic growth over the last two years, a balanced state budget and progress in questions related to European Union and NATO accession.
The coalition agreement says the privatization of major state monopolies such as Narva's power stations and the Estonian railway, and EU and NATO membership are the top priorities.
However, Laar also pointed out various mistakes the government has made. Replacing regional, southwestern train routes with buses has turned out to be a serious political mistake, he admitted.
"The effects of this decision are more serious than initially anticipated, and at least in the government nobody has been satisfied with it," he said.
The day before the vote Laar said the opposition's attempt to push him from power would most likely fail as the ruling coalition was expected to stay faithfully at his side. He was right. Laar's government has lasted longer than any since Estonia's independence. By April 19, the date The Baltic Times goes to press, it will have set a record of two years and 25 days in power.
This breaks the previous record, which also belongs to Laar and his first Cabinet, which was in power from October 21, 1992 to November 8, 1994. It faced a no-confidence vote in September 1994. The vote was successful and the government resigned a little over a month later.
The communications minister from Laar's government, Toivo Jurgenson, survived a no-confidence vote on January 16 this year over the failed privatization of Estonian Railway.
Sven Mikser, vice chairman of the Center Party and an MP, said the party was not surprised by the result.
"We did not really have any great hopes that the no-confidence motion would succeed," he said.
Mikser said that the Center Party had charitably given the government about two weeks starting from the beginning of April to put things right. "As we heard in government circles that Laar was going to make changes to the government by himself, we decided to give him this chance," said Mikser.
"But the government did not replace any ministers or take any other significant steps. So we filed the no-confidence motion."
The failed vote against Laar is the third no-confidence motion carried out in the history of the Estonian Parliament. The Center Party maintains that there will be no new confidence motions in the near future.
However, this does not necessarily apply to the opposition's ongoing campaign to oust Tallinn Mayor Juri Mois. No less than four no-confidence motions against Mois, a member of Laar's Pro Patria party, have been voted on in the capital's city government. All have failed.
"We will continue the political pressure on the government via the press, in questions of replacing the minister of economic affairs, Mihkel Parnoja, and the minister of communications, Toivo Jurgenson, because our party is not satisfied with their work," said Mikser.
Jurgenson and Parnoja represent the Pro Patria Union and the Moderates, respectively.
The 1994 no-confidence vote against Laar did not involve the Center Party and was caused by deep rifts within the Pro Patria Union at the time.
The chairman of the coalition council, Andres Tarand of the Moderates, told the Baltic News Service last week that any attempt to replace Jurgenson and Parnoja would not quite be risk-free for the coalition, because it might launch a chain reaction that could topple the entire government.
Tarand added that a Cabinet reshuffle could still take place, but the coalition is waiting for more information about the privatization process.
Please enter your username and password.
2024 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy
