Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn
 

23 February 2014

Estonia's centre-right PM Andrus Ansip to resign


Ansip has said he will resign on 4 March, in time to allow a successor to build support ahead of elections next year. Siim Kallas, the current European Commissioner for Transport and a former prime minister, is tipped as a front-runner.

"So today is the day that I can assure you: on Shrove Tuesday, I will hand my resignation application to the President of the Republic”, Ansip said in his annual Independence Day eve speech on state-owned TV.

Ansip, Estonia's longest-serving prime minister, has held office with three coalition governments since April 2005, and said two years ago he would not form another government. The prime minister's centre-right Reform Party is betting the president will again nominate a leader from his party to form a new government as it still holds the largest number of seats in parliament, although is losing support in opinion polls. "As the chairman of the Reform Party, I assure you that we have candidates who would do well in the role of prime minister”, Ansip said. On Friday, the party's management board gave authority to Siim Kallis, current Vice-President of the European Commission, to form a new coalition government if and when Ansip resigned.

Ansip's time in office, which began in 2005, was dominated by a long period of crisis management after an asset price bubble burst in 2008. Estonians who had borrowed large amounts to buy property where among the worst hit as the economy declined. Ansip had however kept a tight grip on public finances in the run up to the crisis and that helped him to steer the economy out of the downturn. Nevertheless, extensive cuts to public spending were needed and Ansip, like many other public servants, took a 20 per cent pay cut.

Ansip's austere policies succeeded in stabilising the economy in time to meet the economic criteria to adopt the euro at the start of 2011. The prime minister won back-to-back elections in 2007 and 2011. His post-crisis 2011 victory was seen as a validation of the harsh economic medicine he had administered. However, over the last year growth has been slowing and the economy stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Reporting:

© Reuters

© WSJ (subscription)





< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information



Add new comment