Friday, March 01, 2019

Estonia Maintains the Middle Power between European Union and United Russia

If the federal parliamentary elections in Estonia for the 101 seat Riigikogu were not called in early March, and rather during the Fall season of that year, I believe the results from 2015 vote would have been much closer to what shall happen early March 2019, as it was, pro free market Eesti Reformierakond Erakond or Reform led by Taavi Roivas and his main issue of job creation, dropped to 30 seats or 27.7% vote from 33 seats or 28.6% vote for a 0.9% swing drop, yet made government, pro welfare state Eesti Keskerakond Erakond or Centre led by Edgar Savisaar and his main issue of pension conservation, jumped to 27 sears or 24.8% vote from 26 seats or 23.3% vote for a 1.5% swing jump, to be the opposition, socialist Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond or Social Democrats led by Sven Mikser dropped to 15 seats or 15.2% vote from 19 seats or 17.1% vote for a 1.9% swing drop, to be third party. Remaining finishers were populist conservative Isamaa or Pro Patria and Res Publica Union led by Urmas Reinsalu in fourth dropping from 23 seats or 20.5% vote to 14 seats or 13.7% vote for a 6.8% swing drop, pro democratic reform Eesti Vabaerakond Erakond or Free led by Andres Herkel in fifth was founded in 2014 thus gained 8 seats or 8.7% vote, and nationalist conservative Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond or Conservative People's led by Mart Helme in sixth jumping from 0 seats or 2.1% vote to 7 seats or 8.1%% vote for a 6.0% swing jump. Lots of changes were to be expected, externally with presidential change in America from a more socialist liberal Obama to a more populist conservative Trump but especially after the alt right conservative, nationalist, and populist wave that hit Europe from Russia to Britain, internally add on top Prime Minister Roivas losing a no confidence motion, refusing to resign with support from just his own party, only to give way after the majority of Riigikogu removed him and was replaced with a ethnic Russian endorsed Center Party chairman Juri Ratas to replace the leadership of Savisaar, where Roivas a year later would be hit with a harassment scandal on a trade mission in Malaysia and year after the daughter of former Reform Prime Minister Siim Kallas Kaja Kallas took over leadership of Reform charged with changing the federal tax system being her main issue. Thus, I figure the following to be how these and other changes explained later will be the final result, Reform led by Kallas, shall win 33 seats or 29% vote from 30 seats or 27.7% vote for a 1.3% swing jump, to make the government, Centre led by Ratas, shall win 25 seats or 22% vote from 27 seats or 24.8% vote for a 2.8% swing drop, to be the opposition, Conservative People's led by Helme, shall win 21 seats or 19% vote from 7 seats or 8.1% vote for a 10.9% swing jump, to place third. Pro Patria and Res Publica led by Helir Valdor Seeder, shall win 15 seats or 15% vote to 14 seats or 13.7% vote for a 1.3% swing jump, to place fourth, Social Democrats led by Jevgeni Ossinovski, shall win 6 seats or 6% vote from 15 seats or 15.2% vote for a 9.2% swing drop, to place fifth. Free led by Kaul Nurm, shall win 5 seat or 5% vote from 8 seats or 8.7% vote for a 3.7% swing drop, to place sixth and the other fringe parties finishing out with the remaining votes for 4%.

Just as the possibility of gaining a full 51 majority is virtually impossible with a pizza unicameral parliament where parties as diverse from democratic socialist to national populist from economic liberal to social conservative represent the relatively culturally homogenous populace, so it represents a rainbow of ideas and thoughts from radical to moderate which freely and democratically fight, debate, and vote through compromise towards agreement on how to make government for its people work, thus Estonia maintains the middle power between European Union and United Russia, or in other words the geopolitical solution to a growing stalemate, which is gradually increasing towards another global economic slowdown and eventual restart of a cold war if not careful.

As the previous election had been an almost decade long replacement of Reformers Andrus Ansip with Taavi Roivas as Prime Minister while continuing support for austerity policies, which has made Estonia the crown jewel of the Eurozone with lowest debt level of any member nation state yet has left both rural communities and ethnic Russians behind, the change in coalition for Reform between the populist conservative Isamaa and Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond and socialist liberal Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond showed the strength in the more cosmopolitan Estonian Reform over the more ethnically Russian Centre to work along with the small polar opposites from the middle as Kallas wrestled Ratas for that power, while also taking away strength from other free market friendly parties such as the seasoned Eesti Vabaerakond Erakond and fledgling Eesti Kakssada Erakond which should both either barely remain in parliament and just miss getting in respectively, where Estonians seems to becoming more pro free market economically and socially conservative with anti European principles and policies towards populism and further away from pro welfare state economically and socially liberal with pro European principles and policies of socialism as the 25 percent of the population this former Soviet republic which is ethnic Russians begin to polarize. However a refusal to work together building a right wing populist grand coalition on the centre right built upon the values of Estonian nationalism, Christian democracy, national conservatism, democratic reform, and Euroscepticism with its opposition of immigration, multiculturalism, and globalization that speaks to alienated rural Estonians in the hinterlands will not split the vote, but continue to keep Isamaa and Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond out as either the government or opposition for another term, perhaps the real Blue Awakening or Sinine Aratus is to find out how both of these groups can start working along with one another in an interparliamentary coalition legislatively towards eventually cooperating as an extraparliamentary alliance electorally, instead of paying for supporting coalitions with the others, and not themselves. Finally, watching as such Baltic and Eastern European beacons of light for democracy and freedom as the EU and NATO member Estonia advance further in economic, cultural, and political development beyond even that of established world powers and its elite hegemony, one has to wonder how when a small Northern European nation of just over a million on land with a thousand and a half islands on lakes, ancient forests, and rocky beaches that border the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland with its castles, churches, and countryside hilltop fortresses whose strength and stubbornness represent the ironwilled defenses of the Estonian people against progressive changes that injure orthodox tradition which has carried them forward onward, for those who presently forget the epics of the past will realize sooner than later they have no history nor any future.