Tallinn’s new mayor ends Center Party 19-year rule

The previous mayor was forced out of office following a no-confidence vote in the city council

On Monday, 14 April, the Tallinn City Council elected Jevgeni Ossinovski as the new mayor of the Estonian capital. The election of the new head of local government was possible after a new coalition was formed among the Social Democratic Party (SDE, Ossinovski is from its ranks), the Reform Party, Isamaa and Eesti 200.

This means that for the first time since 2005, the Center Party will not be in charge of Tallinn. During that period, all four mayors who headed the local government had been from that party, including the previous one - Mihhail Kõlvart.

Vote of no confidence for Center Party

Mr Kõlvart lost his mayoral seat following a vote of no confidence organized on 26 March. He had been in charge since 2019.

The reason for his political demise was the flare-up of an old corruption affair that had taken down the Estonian government in 2021. Dubbed the ‘Porto Franco scandal’ by the local media, which involved allegations of influence peddling in the form of party donations linked to a property development. Initially, one court had acquitted the defendants but then an appeal submitted to the Tallinn Circuit Court ended up taking the opposite view. The name of Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart was part of the whole story, as he was the person supposed to be influenced by a politician who received a payment for this.

The new mayor Ossinovski received 41 votes in the 79-seat council. Forty-one council members also participated in the voting. The council approved the size of the city government, which includes eight deputy mayors, and approved the new deputy mayors.

Jevgeni Ossinovski had previously served as minister of education in the national government (2014-2015) and minister of labour (2015-2018).