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The President of the Republic refused to promulgate the Riigikogu Internal Rules Act Amendment Act30.05.2005
The President of the Republic today at Kadriorg signed a resolution not to promulgate, pursuant to § 107 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, the Riigikogu Internal Rules Act Amendment Act, passed by the Riigikogu on May 12, 2005.
In his resolution, President Rüütel pointed out that the possibility of simultaneous belonging of the members of the Riigikogu to local government councils, restored by that act, contradicted the principle of separation and balance of powers. "Though, from time to time, the political forces of Estonia lack sufficient number of active team members, but adding ever so more responsibilities to existing people is neither a right nor forward-moving solution. From the point of view of balanced development, the European principle that the state power should be exercised as close as possible to the people is very topical in Estonia. In our legislation we have to avoid conflict of interest situations, which might arise from simultaneous belonging of the members of the Riigikogu to local government councils," the President of the Republic said.
President Rüütel noted also that, based on his own experience, he knew how much commitment the work in the Riigikogu or in the local government council demanded. "The life in Estonia would best advance if those who make decisions on the state or on local level could fully engage in their work. Any attempt to be politically active on both levels equals to sitting on two chairs at the same time, and the outcome of such work would be too fragmented. I understand the wish of politicians to fully employ all of their abilities, but taking on too much might very easily cause justified dissatisfaction among the electorate," the Head of state said.
The President of the Republic marks in his resolution that he considers it necessary that the Act passed by the Riigikogu on May 12 has to be deliberated once again and has to be brought into conformity with the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia.
The following is an extract from the President's resolution:
"§1 of the Act passed by the Riigikogu will amend subsection 2, § 6 of the Riigikogu Internal Rules Act, which was supposed to enter into force on October 17, 2005, i.e. after the elections to local government councils, omitting the second sentence of the above-mentioned subsection, which stipulates that if a member of the Riigikogu is elected a member of a rural municipality council or a city council, his or her authority as a member of the rural municipality or city council is suspended. The Act would repeal also subsection 2 (3), § 7 of the Riigikogu Internal Rules Act, which was supposed to enter into force on October 17, 2005, and which stipulates that during his or her term of authority the member of the Riigikogu shall not be a member of a rural municipality or city council. The above mentioned amendments will restore the situation where a member of the Riigikogu could have simultaneously the authority of the member of the Riigikogu and the authority of the member of a local government council.
The principle of autonomy of local self-governments, provided by § 154 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and the European Charter of Local Self-Government (RT II 1994, 26, 95) serves the interest of decentralisation of public authority, and restriction and balancing of state power. The right of local government to make their own decisions assumes that the activity of local government council in solving the issues of local life has to be based primarily on local situation and needs, and that the members of the local council could make their decisions independently of the central government and put the local interests at the forefront. The Supreme Court has reached the same conclusion in its decision No. 3-4-1-1-05 (RT III 2005, 13, 128) pointing out in Clause 35 that - realisation of local interests on local level, if necessary even opposing the interests of the central government, is the essence of the autonomy of local government."
As provided for in subsection 2, § 154 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, the state may impose on a local government duties, which by their nature are duties of the executive power. The member of the Riigikogu who simultaneously is also a member of the local government council, while making decisions or organising the fulfilment of such duties would exercise executive power, which contradicts the principle of separation and balance of power stipulated in § 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. The aim of that principle is to avoid the excessive concentration of power with regard to its organisational, functional as well as personal aspects.
Simultaneous fulfilment of different functions of power by one and the same person contradicts the principle of incompatibility of holding two state offices, stipulated in § 63 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, and the aim of which is to guarantee that a member of the Riigikogu could have a possibility to concentrate on the fulfilment of his or her tasks as the member of the Riigikogu."
The full text of the resolution of the President of the Republic is available www.president.ee.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, May 31, 2005
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