the departure of the Callas, the League’s wit and the Chinese voyage

The autumn-winter political season begins with quarrels, mutual recriminations between politicians, strange statements and outright scandals. The start of the work of the Riigikogu after the summer holidays coincided with the farewell statements of the Kallas father and daughter. The patriarch of Estonian politics, Siim Kallas, who has served as Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Governor of the Bank of Estonia, whose facsimile has graced the Estonian kroons, founder of the Reform Party, and the inspirer and conductor of the current tax system in the country, has decided to leave the parliament, where he was elected in 2023, and retire from politics.

There has been no announcement as to whether he will remain the honorary chairman of the Reform Party, but it can be assumed that he will not give up this not too onerous position, even if the current party modus operandi is not entirely to his liking.

The fact that this policy is not entirely to the liking of his daughter, the former chairwoman of the Reform Party and former Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who left this post to become the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was revealed by her herself in her speech at the party congress.

Saying that she was saying this “for the first and last time,” Kaja Kallas unleashed a bucket of reproaches on Christen Michal and his government for refusing to immediately get rid of the notorious “tax hump” and for intending to introduce a corporate income tax. Both are essentially a rejection of “daddy’s inheritance.”

The “tax hump” that the reformists have been fighting against since they came to power is a way of implementing, albeit “under cover”, the hated graduated income tax. And the abolition of the tax on retained earnings was once the favorite brainchild of Siim Kallas. And, it must be said, a successful brainchild. But – at one time. When what could be called a “mature economy” was still a long way off. And the idea that the tax system should be simple and understandable, and therefore attractive to investors, was correct and completely logical. But today, more than two decades later, the same logic not only does not work, but also looks somehow offensive, since following it is the same as adhering to the principle “at least a tuft of wool from a black sheep”. And overcoming the current crisis has little to do with loyalty to the previous tax principles.

But Kaja Kallas’s way of thinking and acting is quite understandable: the departure from the liberal precepts of Siim Kallas began under his successor Andrus Ansip, who wanted to graze on the electoral fields of the conservatives and even populists. Michal, as has been written about many times, grew up in the garden of Ansip, with whom the younger Kallas is currently in a sharp conflict. This does not mean that she herself did not succumb to those new political trends one iota – she did (the founding father himself was guilty of this). But she was still perceived as a continuer of her father’s liberal traditions. And, of course, she perceived herself that way. Having ceased to lead the party and the government, she returned to this, having promised that she was doing this publicly for the last time. In fact, her future new position does not allow any such interference. And in five years we will see.

It’s all the fault of whining

Meanwhile, Michal’s government seems to be confident in itself and the correctness of its actions, and the “world’s best finance minister” Jurgen Ligi, as usual, openly shares his non-trivial thoughts with the people. It turns out, for example, that the rise in prices is due to… our whining and complaints about their growth. They, they say, affect expectations, and what is expected, comes true. Especially if this is facilitated by “some sullen old men” criticizing the government. What can you say? Well, yes, shame on the complainers and “sullen old men” (by the way, a very transparent hint!) and bravo to Jurgen Ligi! Nothing more.

The plenary sessions of the Riigikogu had barely begun when the Centre faction submitted at least two bills for discussion: one declaring Easter Monday a public holiday, the other reducing the VAT on food products to 5%. The first, at the suggestion of the relevant committee, has already been excluded from the agenda, the second, apparently, will suffer the same or a similar fate.

The “Easter bill” has become a tradition for the centrists, they persistently introduce it, and the parliamentary majority rejects it with no less persistence. The centrists point out that in the overwhelming majority of European countries, including all our neighboring countries, Easter Monday is a public holiday and a day off. This is, in general, logical – they prefer to celebrate not the suffering and death of Jesus, as we do, but his resurrection. But the reason for the stubbornness of our deputies, primarily the reformists, is apparently that Easter itself falls on Sunday in any case, and they do not want to give the people an “extra” day off at any cost.

However, the value of the centrist initiative is greatly undermined by the fact that they have come up with it each time while in opposition and never while leading the ruling coalition and having a significant majority in the Riigikogu. As in other cases, for example, as soon as they came to power, the centrists, even during the Savisaar era, somehow inadvertently forgot about their main idea of ​​a graduated income tax. Therefore, their other current initiatives – on reducing the VAT on food products and on a tax on excess profits of banks – inevitably look like an attempt to increase popularity among potential voters. Especially since with the current composition of the parliament, the chances of real success are more than doubtful.

Chinese Hot Potato

The trip of the parliamentary delegation to China unexpectedly became a “hot potato” for politicians, including members of the ruling parties. The loudest voice on this issue was the leader of the Right Party, Lavli Perling, who unleashed a tirade on the guilty members of parliament in a manner that was clearly prosecutorial, which is not at all strange for a former state prosecutor. According to her, the head of the delegation, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary group on relations with China, reformist Toomas Kivimägi, should be recalled from his post as vice-speaker of the Riigikogu, as unworthy of this high title.

Prime Minister and newly-minted leader of the Reform Party Kristen Michal was somewhat more careful in his assessment, but also considered that the MPs’ trip had caused reputational damage to our parliament. Behind all this noisy commotion, it is not entirely clear what the main problem is – that they visited the enemy’s camp, “pro-Russian” in the general opinion, or “communist” in the interpretation of Ms. Perling; that Toomas Kivimägi took his wife with him; that the host party covered the expenses for the reception on site, or something else.

At the same time, all of the above, with the exception of “something else,” is common practice. And “something else,” I dare to suggest, is the hysteria that has engulfed almost our entire political class and spilled beyond its borders, which is worthy of regret. Which, without a doubt, does not exclude the irresistible desire to “give a slap in the face” to an opponent (and politicians are all opponents of each other).