The recent support ratings of the Center Party decreased due to forming a coalition with the Reform Party, which for many Russian-speaking voters, is still associated with the Bronze Night riots, the party s MEP and board member Yana Toom says. The Reform Party is a synonym for the Bronze Night for lots of Russians, whoever is leading the party, Toom told ERR.
The riots took place in April 2007 in Tallinn and followed the relocation of a Soviet-era monument to World War Two dead and was, as its name suggests, the likeness of a soldier cast in bronze.
Nonetheless, Yana Toom says she doesn t agree with the Mayor of Tallinn, Mihhail Kõlvart s (Center) opinion that the party should have stayed in opposition. I understand Mihhail s logic, but if he had worked in the opposition for a couple of weeks, he wouldn t have said that, Toom said.