TALLINN, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Estonia's prime
minister is expected on Thursday or Friday to seek the
president's approval to dismiss three Cabinet ministers,
bringing an end to the three-party coalition government.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip wants to remove the three
Social Democratic ministers, including party leader Ivari
Padar, who holds the finance portfolio.
"It would be honest today to recognize that in its
present form the ruling coalition can no longer function,"
Ansip said on Thursday at a news conference. "Therefore I
intend today to present to the president a petition to remove
the posts of the ministers from the Social Democratic party."
The prime minister's Reform Party and the Pro
Patria-Res Publica Union have been at loggerheads with their
junior coalition partner over budget cuts that the two main
parties see as necessary to get through the economic crisis.
The parties have already started discussions with the
opposition People's Union on joining the government.
In addition to the finance minister, the Social
Democrats also contribute the interior and population ministers
to the government, although Ansip has said he would eliminate
the latter post in a future Cabinet.
News
