"I see a better opportunity if we come to this hall in April with well-prepared draft proposals. I convened the board and asked if anyone wanted to vote. The deputy chairman of the opposition faction was present but did not express a desire to vote. This decision was made at the meeting," said Stalnuhhin.
"Today we will submit a draft requiring an extraordinary session to be convened. This means Stalnuhhin cannot postpone the session. He must convene it, and it must take place no later than April 18," said Aleksei Jevgrafov, chairman of the Narva City Council's Center Party faction.
Ivan Egorov, a member of the Narva faction Respekt, announced a week ago that he would join the ready-made coalition Plan B – Narva City Pulse. This means there is a majority to overthrow Narva's current ruling coalition. Egorov left the Respekt faction, formed on the basis of Katri Raik's electoral alliance, on March 17.
Now, Plan B has five seats in the council and the Center Party has 11. Together, they have 16 votes to form a new coalition. The opposition remains in a one-vote minority, as before.
The opposition planned to formalize the power shift at the next Narva City Council session, scheduled for March 26. However, on Wednesday, Stalnuhhin announced he was canceling the session and rescheduling it for April 23.
Aleksei Jevgrafov, leader of the Narva City Council's Center Party faction, called Stalnuhhin's actions arbitrary. According to him, this began on Tuesday. The council's board usually meets on Thursdays, but Stalnuhhin announced last night that the board meeting would take place on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
"Stalnuhhin knew I had a Riigikogu meeting and couldn't attend. I'd say this is a pretty dirty trick," Jevgrafov told ERR's Russian-language news portal. The Center Party member said the opposition demands an extraordinary session be convened in response to Stalnuhhin's actions.