It was announced that chairman of the city council Peeter Tulviste and deputy mayors Ilona Merzin and Juri Kore would resign on Sept. 10, as the Reformists seized three positions of the electoral committee delegates and failed to support the Pro Patria candidate to the fourth seat, as the parties had allegedly agreed before.
However, Andrus Ansip, mayor of Tartu, told The Baltic Times as it went to press on the evening of Sept. 11 that he had received no resignation applications.
"The Pro Patria Union decided to step out of the coalition in Tartu city administration. We at the administration have not yet discussed this decision seriously, and I think everyone should get over the emotional shock first," he said.
The Reform Party holds a crucial number of seats in the city council and has many opportunities to form a new coalition with several parties. After the parliamentary round of the presidential elections ended fruitlessly two weeks ago, the local governments are preparing to staff the national electoral committee that will proceed with the elections on Sept. 21.
Should the committee not fulfill this task, responsibility for the elections will return to the Parliament.
The last municipal elections held in 1999 brought victory to the ruling coalition of the Moderates, the Pro Patria Union and the Reform Party in most of the municipalities of Estonia.
Maarja Soo, head of Estonian political studies center Praxis, told The Baltic Times that the chances of the opposition are not strong.
"The electoral committee will not have many supporters from the opposition Center Party, but will surely bring more backers from the Moderates and Pro Patria Union," said Soo.
"At the same time many of the committee members have no clear political orientation. Their opinion is hard to predict, and many will make the final decision only in front of the ballot box," she added.
Kurmet Muursepp, chairman of the Association of Estonian Self-Governments, told the Estonian daily Eesti Paevaleht that politicians remember about local governments only when elections are knocking on the door.
"Otherwise we are neglected. The present candidates have spoken a lot about foreign policy, but the local government level has been neglected," he said.
Representatives of local governments are considering nominating Siiri Oviir of the Center Party, Tunne Kelam of Pro Patria and Andrus Ansip of the Reform Party as their candidates in the electoral college.
The Moderates started their presidential campaign back in 1999, after the local elections, plastering the city with posters reading "Tarand for the presidency."
Olari Koppel, the media coordinator for the Moderates, said that up to 40 members of the electoral committee, including 17 MPs, will definitely support Andres Tarand, the presidential hopeful of the Moderates.
The Moderates got over 100 posts in local governments across Estonia, mostly in rural areas and small towns in the 1999 elections.
The question of supporting another party's candidate might be crucial in the final stage of the elections, when only two candidates are left, and a simple majority is crucial. While the party's own candidate might be out of the race, it still can do a political favor to another presidential runner and vote for him.
"It's hard to predict anything, but we do not exclude any agreements with the Reform Party," Koppel said, commenting on a recent statement Hagi Shein, head of the Moderates' city council faction, made to Eesti Paevaleht.
On Aug. 31 Shein said there will not be any agreements between the coalition triumvirate that would help Tallinn City Council send coalition-loyal people to the national electoral committee.
"The presidential elections have become too party-based and the situation is complicated enough, so the coalition does not need to reach an agreement," said Shein.
In Tallinn City Council, eight committee members elected on Sept. 6 represent the coalition. Only two are from the opposition.
Both opposition parties, the Center Party and the People's Union, have still not settled a row over a single presidential candidate, and the People's Union stated it would stick to its own runner Arnold Ruutel.
Tiit Tammsaar, a member of the People's Union, said the party was ready to carry on talks with the Centrists, but would not renounce Ruutel for the Center Party's Peeter Kreitzberg, who did well during the Parliament's election round.
According to the People's Union, about 100 members of the electoral committee will support Ruutel.
The Center Party advisor Evelyn Sepp said her party was fed up with this ideological bargaining, adding that the Center Party has previously supported projects of the People's Union in the Parliament and gave the necessary votes to pass or ban certain bills. "And we never asked for anything in return," she said.
The Estonian media has initially focused on two candidates, Toomas Savi from the Reform Party, and Peeter Tulviste from the Pro Patria Union. In the meantime, Ruutel has gained more support among the population, according to a survey by Emor polling agency.
"Speaking charisma wise, it is difficult to say which of those two, Savi or Tulviste, has the most suitable image," said Soo. In her opinion, Tulviste is an outstanding intellectual and thinker, like Lennart Meri. But Savi's advantage is his political balance and stability, which might lure people who are not interested in having "another Meri" as president.
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