TALLINN - Earlier this week lawmakers enacted a law rejected by President Arnold Ruutel that introduces open lists in elections to the European Parliament. The unchanged law was adopted on March 9 following a vote of 64-31 with no abstentions.
As with the initial passing of the law on Feb. 11, open lists were backed by deputies from the ruling Res Publica and oppositional Center, Pro Patria Union and Social Democratic parties. MPs from the Reform Party and People's Union party did not support the law.
In February, 61 deputies voted for and 29 against open lists.
With open lists, candidates on party tickets are ranked according to the number of votes they receive in elections. As a result, Europar-liament mandates will go to the candidates collecting the most votes. Closed lists, on the other hand, give preference to candidates placed higher on a party's list irrespective of how many votes they win.
Supporters of closed lists declared that open lists would not ensure that the candidate who collects the most votes would actually take up the Europarliament seat, a possibility that the president also pointed out when rejecting the law.
MP Jaak Allik from the People's Union said the party would back open lists if there were certain provisions to secure that the elected candidate would join the European Parliament.
One way to ensure this would be if the candidate confirmed in writing his readiness to enter the Europarliament, he said. Another and tougher scenario would be to take a leaf out of Latvia's book and strip a minister, lawmaker or public servant who secures a seat in the Europarliament of his previous mandate or job.
But the deputy head of the standing constitutional committee, Centrist Siiri Oviir, pointed out that closed lists also do not guarantee that an elected person enters the European Parliament. Such an obligation could not be enacted by law since it would be inconsistent with the constitutional principle of a free mandate, she added.
Res Publica MP Urmas Reinsalu said opponents of open lists were waging a battle because the people their parties would like to see in the European Parliament would need to be popular with the general public.
The president now has two courses of action that he can take. He may promulgate the law despite his earlier opposition to it, though neither the constitution nor other laws set any deadline for such a decision. If the president sticks to his earlier position, however, he may turn to the Supreme Court with the proposal that the law be declared unconstitutional.
In the latter case, if the Supreme Court fails to find inconsistency with the constitution, the president will be forced to promulgate the law.
If Ruutel gives in to the legislature and promulgates the law immediately, it will take effect on March 19 at the earliest. At the same time the president must announce the June 13 Europarliament elections no later than March 12.
