Jüri Ratas, the leader of Estonia’s Centre Party, has announced his intention to contest next year’s European Parliament elections, in pursuing his campaign to rally voters to protest the incumbent government’s policies.
“It seems to me that if the Reform Party continues to lead this government in this way, these European Parliament elections can also result in a very strong voice of the Estonian people, which says that we do not want such a government, which did not talk about tax increases before the elections and lies after the elections,” he declared.
Ratas announced that he was serious about leading the Centre Party’s bid but acknowledged that the party had yet to decide who would head the ticket. “No, we haven’t discussed it”, he told ERR, assuring the Estonian broadcast service that “we are definitely going to get as good a result as possible”.
Just last week, the party’s governing council decided by a one-vote margin not to organize an extraordinary congress of the party, whereby a new leader of the party could have been elected. Ratas, therefore, remains party chairman at least until the next regular congress in the summer of 2024.
According to Ratas, the European Parliament elections, scheduled for May next year, provide an opportunity for a people’s protest vote against the current government. Far-right EKRE vice-chairman Jaak Madison reportedly also confirmed his candidacy for the European Parliament.
