Estonia’s ruling coalition chose stability instead of chaos

Estonia’s ruling coalition chose stability instead of chaos, as Prime Minister Juhan Parts, Reform Party Chairman Siim Kallas and People’s Union Chairman Villu Reiljan, meeting Nov. 22 to discuss alternatives for compromise suggested by Parts on Nov. 19, decided to carry on with cooperation. The next meeting related to the preservation of the coalition will take place Nov. 27, as Parts will tour Germany and Italy from Nov.23. The three party leaders, accompanied by their ministers, did not however discuss the tax reform, which was at the crux of the conflict. For the time being, the income tax decrease has been postponed, as has the other issues, such as the parental compensation and the 2004 budget. Still, a final compromise may be hard to achieve since the Reform Party is against the People’s Union’s idea of using the national reserve for covering any budget shortfall.The reserve contains 3 billion – 4 billion kroons, set aside for covering emergency expenses should they arise. Tiit Tammsaar, minister of agriculture and one of the leaders of the People’ s Union, told the daily Eesti Paevaleht that Estonia was joining the EU next year and there was no reason to keep such a huge budget reserve.