TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – Estonia’s two largest political parties say they have struck a deal to form a new government to be led by a female prime minister for the first time in the Baltic country’s history, to replace of the previous cabinet that fell apart in a corruption scandal earlier this month.
The opposition party councils, center-right reform party and the ruling. The left-wing Center Party was expected to vote on Sunday to join a cabinet led by Reform’s prime minister-candidate and chairman Kaja Kallas.
Both sides will have seven ministerial portfolios in the 14-member government, which would gather a majority in the Riigikogu parliament with 101 seats.
According to a joint statement, the Reform Party and the Center Party “will form a government that will continue to effectively resolve the COVID-19 crisis, keep Estonia forward-looking and develop all areas and regions of our country.”
Earlier this month, President Kersti Kaljulaid, who is expected to appoint Kallas’ cabinet in the coming days, said addressing the worsening situation of the coronavirus in Estonia and the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic should be an immediate priority for the new government.
Kaljulaid mandated Kallas to form the government as her business and entrepreneurship reform party emerged as the winner of the March 2019 general election in Estonia.
Pending approval by lawmakers, Kallas, 43, will become the first female head of government in the history of the small Baltic country of 1.3 million people to regain its independence during the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
She is a lawyer and former legislator of the European Parliament and is the daughter of Siim Kallas, one of the founders of the Reform Party, a former Prime Minister and a former Commissioner of the European Union. Kaja Kallas took over the reins of the Reformation Party in 2018 as the first female chairman.
The government formation is Kallas’ second attempt in less than two years as she failed to establish a Reform Party-led government after the 2019 elections. That paved the way for the arch-rival Center Party and its leader, Juri Ratas, to form a three-party coalition without the Reform Party.
Ratas and his cabinet resigned on January 13 over a scandal involving a key official in his Center Party who was suspected of accepting a private donation for the party in exchange for political favor on a property development in the port area of the capital Tallinn.
The Prime Minister of Estonia since November 2016, Ratas will not be part of the new cabinet. Local media previously reported that he could become parliament speaker in March.
Estonia has been a member of the European Union and NATO since 2004.