Former IRL head Mart Laar, who is leaving Parliament to take up a position with the central bank on Wednesday, signaled his party was close to leaving the governing coalition.
The veteran politician and former prime minister said late spring had brought a succession of "soap operas" in the Reform Party. "The governing coalition has managed not only to make itself a laughingstock, but all of Estonian politics has been made untrustworthy. The internal party elections are not national e-elections to be sure, but trust in the latter are diminished by lack of honesty in internal elections."
Laar intimated that the Reform Party's antics had become embarrassing for IRL, the junior coalition partner, and noted that even though his statement ran the risk of amplifying the problem, it was his duty to clear the air.
"The question of why we are in the governing coalition is not something that can be ignored," he said.
"IRL is not a party where decisions have been made by a narrow contingent without discussing it with the rest of the party," he said, noting that a decent respect for the opinions of others impelled him to issue the statement.
"So that no one would misinterpret my letter, this letter is not sent as a call to IRL to immediately leave the coalition," he said toward the conclusion.