Small Estonian parties call election deposits a serious obstacle — ERR News
Non-parliamentary parties in Estonia are preparing for the Riigikogu elections scheduled for March, but a common obstacle for them is the need to pay a deposit to register candidates. As ERR News reports, its amount is equal to one minimum monthly wage in Estonia for each candidate.
Parties are drawing up lists
The Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives Party (EERK), founded in 2024 by former EKRE members, unanimously decided several weeks ago to take part in the elections with its own list. EERK chairman Rein Suurkask said that the party plans to nominate candidate lists in all electoral districts. Its goal is to clear the five-percent electoral threshold.
The Estonian Greens will also definitely take part in the elections, party co-chair Rasmus Lahtvee said. According to his preliminary calculations, the party may need around €120,000 to nominate a full list of candidates. Lahtvee called the deposit requirement a serious problem for political forces that are not financed by taxpayers' money.
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Appeals over the deposit
According to Lahtvee, a party that is not elected loses the money it paid. He also noted that during the European Parliament elections, the Estonian Greens went to court and received interim protection. According to him, there is still no final decision at the European level, but the European Commission considered the deposit amount clearly excessive for those elections.
The Estonian National Liberals – Free Party also appealed to the chancellor of justice over this requirement. Its chairman, Märt Meesak, said that such a system makes it harder for new political forces and ideas to emerge. The party will likely make its final decision on taking part in the elections in November, when it expects a response from the chancellor of justice.
The Plan B movement will not field its own list, although it considered that possibility last year. Urbo Vaarmann, the movement's representative in Narva, said that its members may run as independent candidates or on the lists of other parties.
