I'm slightly at a loss as to how this came abut, but apparently a government will be formed by the Reform Party, ResPublica and the Social Democrats(!).
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/05/europe/EU-POL-Estonia-Government.phpEstonia's new center-right government sworn in
The Associated Press
Published: April 5, 2007
TALLINN, Estonia: Estonia's new center-right government led by Prime Minister Andrus Ansip was sworn in Thursday in the nation's parliament, officials said.
On Wednesday, lawmakers voted in favor of allowing the coalition to form a new government and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves later approved it.
The government will consist of Ansip's center-right Reform Party, the conservative IRL union and the centrist Social Democrats.
The three parties plan to continue market-friendly policies in the country of 1.3 million, including reducing the flat tax from 22 percent to 18 percent by 2011.
The coalition pledged to boost Estonia's birth rate by giving parents financial incentives. The Baltic state's population has been shrinking since it gained independence in 1991.
The government partners also pledged to improve relations with neighboring Russia, which have been badly strained in recent weeks over plans to relocate a World War II memorial in downtown Tallinn that honors Soviet soldiers.
High-tech Estonia has one of the European Union's fastest-growing economies, and some economists credit the flat tax, which means everyone pays the same tax rate as opposed to the progressive rate that most European countries use.
Under the coalition deal signed earlier this week, Urmas Paet is set to continue as foreign minister and Rein Lang as justice minister. Both are members of the Reform Party.
Ivari Padar, chairman of the Social Democrats, will become finance minister and former Prime Minister Juhan Parts, an IRL union member, becomes economy minister.
