Elected Estonia's first prime minister in 1992, Mart Laar, then aged 32, introduced the shock therapy reforms that provided the foundation for the country's current rising prosperity. In 1999, Laar, a historian by training, returned to the post at the head of a coalition comprising the liberal Reform Party, the left-leaning Moderates and his own conservative Pro Patria Union.
It was a spectacular political comeback. But since then he has spent most of his time holding the coalition together and trying to dodge the ammunition thrown by a relentless opposition, led by Edgar Savisaar's Center Party.
The Baltic Times: Your current government has managed to survive longer than any other since independence. Would you say it's done a good job?
Mart Laar: Yes. This has been a very stable government with strong continuity. Governments have been changing every two years or so, but reforms have continued more or less along the same lines. The popularity of this government has fallen, like all the others. But the polls say that together the parties of the ruling coalition would win the elections again if they were held tomorrow.
TBT: The opposition has been demanding the resignations of your economy and transport ministers. Is a government reshuffle in the works?
Laar: Nobody is good for a place forever. But a move must have clear reasons, not simply that a minister is unpopular. If there is to be a reshuffle then political parties will make those decisions.
TBT: A recent survey shows that Estonians' faith in all political parties has plummeted. This is probably due to the bitter battles between them. Given that the battles could go on for some time, can anything be done to restore this faith?
Laar: This is different to whether they will take part in elections. Take a look at other Central and Eastern European countries and the situation is very similar: 30 or 40 per cent of people are not participating. We'd like this figure to be smaller, of course. It's a shame that instead of politics, where such long-standing governments are unusual, we are seeing just a lot of fighting. People's faith will be restored only if this stops.
TBT: In February, you narrowly avoided having to resign over a scandal that erupted because you took shots at pictures of Edgar Savisaar on a firing range. What do you think saved you from resignation?
Laar: There were no serious talks in the coalition about resignation. The coalition is staying firmly together, and that helped. One month ago there was a no-confidence vote, which was pretty much crushed in the Parliament.
TBT: That vote was the latest in a series launched by the Center Party. Would you say your position and reputation have been significantly damaged by this barrage of attacks?
Laar: It's hard to say. People start to think maybe there is some truth behind these accusations if you are attacked aggressively enough. But that's politics. For a prime minister it's not the most important thing to be a popular guy. Most important is to do the job well, take decisions and have targets. If you can't do that there's no point in being in this chair.
My dream in life was never to be prime minister. I am more a historian in my soul. But as a historian I know there are unpopular decisions that must be made to take the country into the future. Once some of those goals are fulfilled it's not very easy for me to find the motivation to stay in politics. Politics is dirty and not pleasurable. I don't like fighting. I want to work.
TBT: Juri Mois, Tallinn's mayor and fellow Pro Patria member, has seen his fair share of headlines recently. His strip club visit, his alleged contacts with shady businessmen and now his suggestion to bring the Center Party into the power bloc in the capital. Isn't it time to get rid of him?
Laar: The party will decide whether Mois will continue in his post or not, and there will be a decision in the next couple of weeks.
TBT: The Reform Party is demanding Mois' resignation. Is there any danger of a split between the Reform Party and Pro Patria?
Laar: No. The coalition in the city government must continue and ways have to be found to avoid direct conflict. I think Mois has worked quite well as a mayor, but I must say his personal statements have not helped him in his work. There isn't the slightest possibility that the Center Party will be invited to either the city or the national government coalitions. Mois understands this.
TBT: So you would never cooperate with Savisaar under any circumstances?
Laar: I could say never again, but... Savisaar is not a cooperative person. Just yesterday we sat with the Center Party to discuss important questions on social security reforms, and they suddenly announced they wouldn't participate because the government had already proposed laws on this matter.
It's very clear that the opposition is trying to avoid any discussions of serious issues and is concentrating on political fighting and dirty politics, which is sad. But on the other hand you can understand it because they are without any constructive program. It's easy to criticize, a little bit harder to offer credible alternatives. I look forward to the day when they can.
TBT: Estonia has an excellent reputation for economic reforms and privatization and is certainly ahead of Latvia and Lithuania in that respect. But with the railway privatization debacle things don't look as slick as they were. Do you think the faith foreign investors had in Estonia has been shaken?
Laar: No, I don't think so, at least there are no signs of this. There are still plenty of investments coming to Estonia. The privatization of infrastructure is always a problem, especially railways, in the whole of the developed world. We are not a country in transition, we are part of the developed world. Great Britain, for example, is having the same problems.
But now that the winners of the railway privatization have been announced we have had two full days of peace and quiet; the noise was loud before the decision was made.
Estonia checked the background of the money being offered by the original winners. We found it was not from the best sources and we said no. The agreement was not signed. We sent this black money back to where it came from. In many developed countries this would not have happened.
TBT: There are large protests against unemployment in Narva, and social scientists are accusing you of ignoring poverty and a falling sense of security. How will you deal with these by-products of conservative values?
Laar: We have moved toward that so-called normal Western world where social ills like unemployment have great importance. Some people are not satisfied to see positive reforms, to see the standard of living rise and inflation go down, to see the economy healthy especially when compared to other countries that began their reforms at the same time as us. They look to developed countries and ask, "Why are we not living as they are?" A very good question. But this is not our question any more.
What the social scientists are doing is very useful. It's an important task and we'll be taking note of their report because, despite all the successes, there have been quite clear mistakes - the problems of a modern, developed, Western country.
TBT: But it seems there's a two-tier level of development going on within Estonia, with many people, in Narva for example, looking at Tallinn and asking, "Why can't we live as they do?"
Laar: And some people in Tallinn look at Helsinki and ask the same thing. At the oil shale mines in Kohtla and Johvi there has not been much investment, and this means the local authorities have not been active enough. The restructuring of the mining region is a huge task. A lot of people's lives are involved, but there are places that are just not effectively used any more.
Many of the jobs in those regions are not as active as they are in Tallinn. People are not taking advantage of programs the government is offering for retraining. Their knowledge of Estonian is poor, so they can't find work elsewhere in Estonia.
The lack of people's knowledge of the Estonian language is one of the main causes of unemployment there. This is one of the many legacies of the communist system and Soviet repression we are trying to deal with, and it has never been easy.
TBT: President Lennart Meri has been perhaps the most significant figure in Estonian politics since 1990. Do you think anyone could ever replace him?
Laar: Meri has played an important role, but I think there are some very good candidates to replace him. They have a different style. But Estonia can feel at ease with the change. All these candidates would be able to manage being president quite well.
TBT: Do you have your own personal favorite?
Laar: My party made a tough choice, but we are supporting Peeter Tulviste and there is a good chance he will become the next president of Estonia. But he is up against some strong candidates.
TBT: Meri, according to newspaper reports, is consulting members of your government about the possibility of replacing you. Is that really what he wants?
Laar: Actually, on Wednesday (May 3) Mr. Meri used hard words to say what he thought about newspapers and journalists. He said those stories were not true, and that it's normal for governments in hard times to make unpopular decisions. He used nice words about the government and the prime minister.
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