Eesti 200 decided at its council meeting Sunday not to merge with the non-parliamentary Estonian Greens ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While consultations had previously been held on a possible merger, Eesti 200 has now decided not to enter into merger negotiations with the Greens. The coalition party's head of communications, Johannes Merilai, said the Greens' policies differ from those of Eesti 200 and that a merger would add nothing to the party's core identity, which is based on progressive and liberal views.
"They have strong positions on certain issues, but if we were to bring the two parties together, it's not clear whether that would add anything," Merilai said.
He noted that Sunday's meeting did not address whether Eesti 200 would participate in next spring's Riigikogu elections. "There is still time to make that decision. There's no need to rush," Merilai said. He added that the party is currently preparing for the elections and aims to field a full slate of candidates. However, no final decision was made on Sunday.
Toomas Uibo, chairman of Eesti 200's Riigikogu parliamentary group, announced in a social media comment on Thursday that he does not intend to run in the next Riigikogu elections. Fellow party member Irja Lutsar announced similar plans in July, although just three and a half months ago, party leader Kristina Kallas said that, to her knowledge, all Eesti 200 MPs were prepared to run for reelection.
The latest weekly poll conducted by the Institute for Societal Studies (MTÜ Ühiskonnauuringute Instituut) and polling firm Norstat Eesti AS showed support for Eesti 200 at 1.2 percent.
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