Jüri Ratas is an Estonian politician who has been Prime Minister of Estonia and Leader of the Centre Party since 2016. The current government of Ratas, active since April 2019, has been notable for its share of public scandals, resignations of ministers and the amount of public apologies from Ratas, mostly connected to the activities of the nationalist EKRE party, a coalition member. His tenure has also seen the national budget of Estonia going into deficit after years of being in surplus. According to a national poll conducted in November 2019, Ratas was the preferred person for the seat of the prime minister in the country for 36% of voters, thus scoring the highest result in the poll. In January 2020, his coalition was supported by a quarter of the electorate.
Career
He acted as the vice-president of the Riigikogu from 2007 to 2016 and Mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. As a mayor of Tallinn he initiated the European Green Capital Award programme. In the 2015 Estonian parliamentary election, Ratas was re-elected to the parliament with 7,932 individual votes. In March he was elected as the second deputy speaker of the Riigikogu. On 5 November 2016, Ratas was elected to succeed Edgar Savisaar as the leader of the Centre Party. After Taavi Rõivas' second cabinet split in November 2016 due to internal struggle, coalition talks began between Centre Party, Social Democratic Party, and Pro Patria and Res Publica Union. On 19 November, the three parties agreed on the conditions of Ratas' first cabinet. Ratas was sworn in as the prime minister of Estonia on 23 November. After 2019 parliamentary election, Ratas turned down an offer from the liberal, election-winning Reform Party for coalition and instead entered into talks with the conservative Isamaa and the often-considered as far-right, EKRE. On 17 April, Riigikogu granted Ratas the authority to form the government and remain Prime Minister. These talks resulted in the formation of Ratas' second cabinet in April 2019. During his tenure, the national budget of Estonia went into deficit after years of being in surplus. This drew widespread criticism, notably from the European Commission and the Estonian Central Bank.
Coalition formation controversy of 2019
In the elections of 2019, the party of Ratas, the Estonian Centre Party, lost support while the oppositional, liberal Estonian Reform Party, gained support and became the largest party by parliament seats in Estonia. After the elections, Ratas turned down an offer by the Reform party for coalition talks and entered into talks with Isamaa and EKRE, the latter being widely considered a far-right party. Ratas had previously ruled out forming a coalition with EKRE during the election campaign because of its hostile views. The subsequent reversal of his stance and the inclusion of EKRE by Ratas in coalition talks after the elections was met with local and international criticism. In a poll conducted after the start of the coalition talks, the party of Jüri Ratas further lost support. The critics of the decision have claimed that Ratas is willing to sacrifice his party's values, the confidence of his voters and the stability and reputation of the country to keep his position as prime minister. Ratas has countered that his first duty is to look for ways to get his party included in the government to be able to work in the benefit of his voters and that the coalition would continue to firmly support the EU, NATO and would be sending out messages of tolerance. Some key members and popular candidates of the party of Ratas have been critical of the decision, with Raimond Kaljulaid leaving the party in protest. Yana Toom, a member of the party and its representative in the European Parliament expressed criticism of the decision. Mihhail Kõlvart, popular among the Russian-speaking voters and the newly-elect mayor of Tallinn, has said the Centre party cannot govern with EKRE's approach. The decision was also criticized by Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group in the European Parliament where The Centre Party of Ratas is a member, suggesting that Ratas should break off coalition talks with the national-conservative EKRE. Ratas responded in the Estonian media that "Brussels should not dictate to us what our coalition should be like." When on the third week of coalition talks, Martin Helme of EKRE accused gynaecologists of violating their Hippocratic Oath by performing abortions, Ratas demanded the party to stop accusing doctors – with this being the first public criticism of EKRE by Ratas after the start of the coalition talks. On 17 April, Riigikogu voted in favor for granting Ratas the authority to form the government.
