(Bloomberg) -- A botched attempt by a nationalist party to oust the head of police has pushed Estonia’s squabbling government to the brink of collapse.
Prime Minister Juri Ratas issued a sharp rebuke to his junior coalition partner, saying Finance Minister Martin Helme “certainly exceeded his competencies.” Helme, standing in for his vacationing father Mart as interior minister, summoned police chief Elmar Vaher on Thursday and urged him to resign over a “loss of trust” or face dismissal, something that can only be done by government decision, Ratas said on public television.
Ratas, in power since 2016, has faced increasing public criticism after he snubbed the election-winning Reform Party following a March ballot and reneged on pledges to avoid ruling with the anti-immigrant and euroskeptic EKRE party, led by the Helmes. Support for his Center Party has declined to 17.8% in latest polls, with Reform at a record 38.5%. Reform and other opposition forces urged Ratas to dismiss both Mart and Martin Helme or quit himself.
Ratas vowed to protect the rule of law and pledged full support for Vaher. He promised to discuss the “difficult” situation next week with Mart Helme, who accuses Vaher of misleading the public by saying he has been instructed to cut police jobs. The finance minister later apologized on Facebook for not having informed the premier beforehand.
President Kersti Kaljulaid has openly criticized EKRE and lamented damage to Estonia’s reputation, while Ratas has denounced statements by EKRE officials almost weekly, most recently for comparing the European Union to the Soviet Union and for calling Estonia’s independence movement 30 years ago a “mass hysteria.” Press reports this month have indicated growing unease in Ratas’s party.
In May, Ratas rejected the interior minister’s claim of political corruption behind the 200-billion-euro money laundering scandal focused on the local unit of Danske Bank A/S. Still, the premier said only last week media reports of tensions in the coalition had “no basis.”
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