The head of state remarked that coalition governments are one of Estonia’s strengths, since their policies are based on compromise and require a broader view than one party’s wishes and promises alone. “The coalition agreement brings together the thoughts and ideas of three different parties,” he said. “The culmination of your month-long negotiations demonstrated a willingness to reach agreement. How long that willingness is maintained now depends on all of you and on the political groupings in the Riigikogu. It is a question of how amicably you function as a coalition.”
President Karis added that there were other factors the coalition would have to take into account. “It is also a question of how amicably your actions and decisions are received,” he noted. “You will not have the benefit of the traditional grace period. The opposition will remind you incessantly that there are other opinions, other views. That is perfectly normal: it is part of democracy. It only becomes embarrassing when witticisms and high spirits devolve into a torrent of incivility that gets in the way of the parliament’s work. And there are already signs that relations between the coalition and the opposition may tend towards the ungracious.”
The head of state implored the new government to explain its choices to the electorate. “I don’t feel that you need to apologise for or justify yourselves because of seemingly unpopular decisions, but you do need to explain why the painful option is, in your collective opinion, the right one,” he cautioned. “Smart people know when you are being honest with them. Try to hoodwink them and it will earn you nothing but anger and resentment.”
President Karis concluded by saying that he is someone who puts his faith in knowledge. “As such, I feel I must mention that choices should be made by first analysing the impact they will have,” he said. “Without doing so there is no way, in my view, that you can explain, for example, why you are raising VAT on accommodation services, why you are changing the funding model for local governments, the details of the car tax you intend to introduce or anything else your coalition has planned to write into law in the coming months and years. But for now I bid you get to work!”
