The Riigikogu did not pass a vote of no confidence in Minister of the Environment Villu Reiljan
The Riigikogu did not support the expression of no confidence in Minister of the Environment Villu Reiljan. The expression of no confidence was supported by 39 deputies. At least 51 votes would have been necessary for no confidence. The expression of no confidence was submitted by Marko Pomerants at the beginning of today’s sitting on behalf of 32 deputies of the Res Publica and the Isamaaliit Faction who had signed the expression of no confidence.
The Riigikogu passed three Acts:
The Riigikogu passed with 77 votes in favour the Identity Documents Act and Imprisonment Act Amendment Act (749 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act provides the persons detained in prisons with a possibility to identify their person during their stay in prison with a certificate of detention. Pursuant to the Act, imprisoned persons need not have neither an identification card nor a travel document. The state will no longer have an obligation to repeatedly issue an identification card to a person serving a long-term custodial sentence due to the expiry of its validity or changes in data.
The Riigikogu passed with 69 votes in favour the Act on the Accession to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (796 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The purpose of the Convention is to promote the shared liability of the Parties to the Convention, in order to protect human health and the environment against possible harmful impact of hazardous chemicals, to improve the information exchange concerning the named chemicals and to establish the internal decision-making procedure regarding the import and export of those chemicals, and to forward relevant decisions to the Parties to the Convention.
The Riigikogu passed with 73 votes in favour the Act on the Ratification of the Protocol between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Estonia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, and the Protocol thereto (798 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The objective of the double taxation agreements is to divide the right of taxation between the states, to avoid discriminative taxation and to prevent fiscal evasion, thereby the agreements contribute to the promotion of international investments and trade between the states, as well as to the free movement of technology and persons.
The Riigikogu concluded the second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Government of the Republic Act and Associated Acts (748 SE), initiated by the Estonian People’s Union Faction, Estonian Centre Party Faction and Estonian Reform Party Faction. The motion of the Res Publica Faction to suspend the second reading of the Bill was not supported: 32 votes were in favour, 51 against.
The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of four Bills:
The Postal Bill (815 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic;
The Bill on Amendments to the Electronic Communications Act , Information Society Services Act, Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Code of Misdemeanour Procedure (800 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The motion made by the Res Publica Faction to reject the Bill at the first reading was not supported: 17 votes in favour, 41 against.
The Bill on the Approval of the Statute of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (822 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic;
The Bill on Amendments to the Law of Property Act Implementation Act and State Fees Act (823 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic.
* * *
The Riigikogu rejected at the first reading the Bill on Amendments to the Pre-school Child Care Institutions Act, vocational Educational Institutions Act and Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act (802 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Peeter Kreitzberg. The result of voting: 44 votes in favour, 17 votes against, 11 abstentions.
The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu Proposal to the Government of the Republic (789 OE), submitted by the Res Publica Faction, was also rejected at the first reading with 49 votes in favour (29 against).
* * *
At Question Time of the Riigikogu Minister of Justice Rein Lang answered the questions about the corruption in local governments, legal order, criminal procedure and about the Principles of the Ownership Reform Act. Minister of Culture Raivo Palmaru answered the questions about the cultural investments and political censorship of the media. Minister of Finance Aivar Sõerd answered the question about the compensation of the increase in prices.
The sitting ended at 7.21 p.m.
The Riigikogu Press Service