Major TOM to fight for democracy

TALLINN - The Estonian government has gotten closer to the people with the help of TOM, an online legislation portal launched June 25.

In Estonian TOM stands for "Tana Otsustan Mina" (Today I Decide). The prime minister's press department runs the portal.

The most popular suggestions so far discussed in the forum (tom.riik.ee) have been the restoration of capital punishment and the introduction of a professional army. Other ideas have dealt with women's obligatory military service, removing old cars from the streets, issuing different state guarantees on bank loans for young families, and much more.

One of the most hotly discussed topics was an idea posted by user Valdur Vesman.

"An MP gets several average salaries. But the concept of an average salary is only used for statistical research. If the salaries of MPs were tied to the minimum wages, MPs would be more interested in raising it," suggested Vesman in a synopsis of his idea at TOM.

"The goal of the portal is to stimulate people's participation in the process of national decision making. Ideas, initiatives, thoughts and suggestions are all welcome; users can also comment on the suggestions," explained Tex Vertmann, the portal project manager.

Anything posted by users has to include a concrete suggestion about a certain problem or an existing law. If someone posts an idea that is thoroughly handled in existing legislation, the portal administrator informs the user about it.

After the initial posting, the author can change the suggestion judging by other people's comments within 14 days, and then put it to a vote. If it is not voted down, then the bill goes to Laar directly and he sends it to a certain department or ministry with his own resolution.

Kulli Koit, spokeswoman for the prime minister, said that if a governmental institution rejects the bill it has to explain why in detail.

The portal had 700 registered users as of July 12, and counter statistics say that 160,000 visited the Web site within the first two weeks. By July 16, 125 topics were posted, six of them being projects from various ministries.

Laar said the visitors' enthusiasm has overcome his expectations. "It is a pleasant surprise what a broad audience TOM has gotten; even if it was 10 times less, the project would still be worth it," said Laar.

"I believe the ideas at the portal will instantly help the government to change peoples' lives for the better, from minor problems to global ideas," he said.

Laar emphasized the uniqueness of the project. "The Finnish government had something similar, but there was no chance the ideas of people could reach high decision makers like the government," said Laar.

Three months before TOM, the Estonian Law Center created a similar forum on its web site, which inspired the creators of TOM, according to the Postimees daily. The law center is a non-profit organization providing legal training seminars to the Estonian legal community, and issuing popular materials and newsletters on legislation in Estonia.