Home » News » Kersti Sarapuu: what is going on in the Riigikogu?

Kersti Sarapuu: what is going on in the Riigikogu?

I completely understand Pipi-Liis Siemann’s bewilderment and depression in the situation she has found herself in during the last few weeks while working in the Riigikogu, because as a former very good local government leader, she was really able to decide for herself about her duties and their fulfillment. However, he is currently an MP of the Prime Minister’s Party in the coalition and is responsible for accepting the developed intentions.

Pipi-Liis Siemann calls the opposition’s action a tantrum, while we call it standing up for our principles and fulfilling our promises to the voters. It is indeed sometimes necessary to be stubborn in order to achieve one’s will, but the priority must be people’s livelihood, not standing up for the interests of the wealthiest.

To call the opposition a small group is wrong. According to current ratings (Norstat), the support of the opposition is almost 49 percent and this trend will continue. The air has been let out of the reformist’s pre-election bubble of lies. They have collected their votes in vats, therefore they do not have a mandate to deal with initiatives for which a mandate was not requested.

The government broke its word

The Reform Party did not say a word about tax increases before the elections, so it does not have a mandate to implement them. Raising sales tax and income tax by ten percent in a situation where Estonia remains at the top of the inflation table is simply cynical. The government’s income tax reform takes money from poorer people and gives it to richer people.

To cover the reform party’s election promise to eliminate the so-called tax hump, 495 million euros will be spent from the state budget, with which the wealthier than average people will be given 700 euros of tax-free income every month. A big question mark is the impact of tax increases on the economy, because no serious analysis has been done.

A separate question is why Estonia 200 and the socialists support tax increases that have such a negative impact on Estonian people, entrepreneurs and the economy. When asked how people earning between 750 and 1,200 euros should manage, who, in addition to the decrease in family allowances, will have less money in their hands due to the increase in income tax and the increase in VAT will lead to more expensive food baskets, housing costs and consumer goods, the Minister of Finance, while introducing the drafts in the parliament, answered that they must start changing their behavior habits.

The faction of the Center Party did not initiate the obstruction in the parliament lightly. It was born as a reaction to the government coalition’s short-sighted and social inequality-exacerbating policy. I will outline three main reasons why we strongly oppose the coalition’s actions.

First of all, the state must not be mean to children and families by increasing benefits before the elections and cutting them immediately after the elections. It is especially cynical in a situation where this is done by two-thirds of the same government, which all parties promised in their election platforms to increase child benefits instead. Currently, families with children are under attack, tomorrow pensioners, disabled people or another vulnerable target group may become victims of cuts.

Secondly, no part of the government asked the people for a mandate for large-scale tax increases during the Riigikogu elections. On the contrary, those who talked about the need for a tax debate were criticized. Currently, they want to raise all kinds of taxes as a matter of urgency, starting with sales tax and income tax and ending with the plan to introduce a car tax. The tax package of the governing coalition also came as an unpleasant surprise to a large part of their voters, not to mention opposition supporters.

Thirdly, the policy of the Reform Party government is fundamentally unfair and increases social inequality. The role of the state is to ensure a decent life for all its people and to help mainly people with lower incomes, families and the elderly through various subsidies and tax policies. The current government wants to do the opposite. The income tax reform primarily helps the wealthier than the average, and the increase in VAT will hit the low-wage earners harder, whose budget is made up of forced spending on food and housing.

The Chancellor of Justice supports the opposition

The joint opposition of the opposition factions of the Riigikogu to the reduction of family allowances raised before the elections and the speedy push through of tax increases that were vehemently hidden from the voters is a constitutional right. The role of the opposition is not to praise the policies of the government coalition, but to stand up for its worldview and voters.

It was very offensive to hear the statement of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, as if her Reform Party is headed by the West and the opposition is Putin’s Russia only because the opposition did not rush to support the drafts proposed by the government. Obstruction has also been implemented by the Reform Party in the past, and calling it a constitutional crisis is arbitrary.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madis and legal scholar Paloma Krõõt Tupay have been rather supportive of the opposition’s tool and emphasize that a compromise must be sought in the case of controversial drafts. However, dialogue is humiliating for those who value their truth. In order to avoid negotiations and to quickly push through the bills, the coalition repeatedly violated the work and house rules in the Riigikogu, and the opposition had no choice but to turn to the Supreme Court to stand up for its rights.

In the opinion piece, Pipi-Liis Siemann refers to the need to do substantial work, but this is exactly what the reform parties have not done, because the parties were not involved in drafting the bill – they were only involved after the bill was handed over to the Riigikogu – and impact analyzes have not been done.

The faction of the Center Party is still of the opinion that instead of tax increases, a classic graduated income tax should be introduced and the VAT on food should be lowered, which will increase the cohesion of society. It is time to move to a European tax system where the tax burden depends on a person’s income. If you consider that Estonia is one of the countries with the fastest price growth in Europe, which also means higher inflation. The annual increase in food prices is still very fast. The price increase affects all basic foodstuffs, which is why lowering the VAT on foodstuffs to five percent is an essential step for the livelihood of Estonian people and companies. Estonia is one of the four member states of the European Union that does not apply a reduced VAT rate to food products.

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