06.Märts 2025

Erakonnad kaks aastat pärast valimisi: SALK-ist polnud meile eriti abi

Parties two years after the elections: SALK was not particularly helpful to us

Erakondade rahastamise järelevalve komisjon (ERJK) leiab, et Sihtasutus Liberaalne Kodanik (SALK) annetas neljale erakonnale enne 2023. aasta riigikogu valimisi kokku 92 572 euro eest teenuseid. Komisjoni esimees Liisa Oviir ütles, et sihtasutus ostis ja viis läbi uuringuid, analüüsis nende tulemusi ja tegi need kättesaadavaks neljale erakonnale. Oviiri sõnul osutati erakondadele teenust, samal ajal kui nende konkurentidele samasugust teenust ei osutatud. "Ja see üsna üheselt vastab sellele, mis on ," lisas Oviir.

Timo Suslov, Reformierakonna peasekretär, rõhutas, et reformierakond pole SALK-ilt mingit teenust tellinud. "Me ei kutsunud neid oma kontorisse, et palun pakkuge meile uuringu teenust. Kui pole tellimust, siis ei saa olla ka teenust," ütles Suslov. Temaga sama meelt on Keskerakonna peasekretär Anneli Ott. Ott küsis, kas üks inimene, kes tuleb oma tööst rääkima ilma, et me oleme seda palunud, saab hiljem selleks tööks kulunud palga välja nõuda sellelt, kes on ta ära kuulanud.

Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna peasekretär Priit Lomp soovitas tulevikku vaadata. "Et lihtsalt lõpuks ühel hetkel me ei oleks Eestis selles seisus, et kellegi postkasti potsatab kolm päeva enne valimisi mõne uuringuid läbi viiva organisatsiooni infopagas ja pärast , et sellega mõjutati tulemust," rääkis Lomp.

ERJK juht Liisa Oviir rõhutas, et sihtasutuse töö ei piirdunud üksiku infopagasi või kontorikohtumisega. Komisjoni töö sai tõuke mõni kuu pärast valimisi avaldatud Eesti Ekspressi artiklist, kus poliitikud ise põhjalikke selgitusi andsid. "SALK andis kõik meile vajalikud andmed," ütles Ekspressile Eesti 200 Tartu kampaaniat suunanud Daniel Kõiv ning selgitas, kuidas ta palus SALK-i käest üha uusi mudeleid. Sihtasutuse andmebaasi külastas Kõiv enda sõnul mitu korda nädalas.

Erakonnad leiavad, et sihtasutuse pakutud õunad olid neil ka endal olemas. "Me ei ole seda meelt kindlasti, et me oleks saanud mingit infot, millega me oluliselt või üldse saime muuta oma kampaania strateegiat," sõnas Anneli Ott. Priit Lomp küsis, et kui SALK-i töö mingit mõju avaldas, siis kuidas on võimalik, et üks sihtasutusega suhelnud erakond sai 14 i teine 39 mandaati kolmas üheksa mandaati. "Erakonna tulemust laiemalt see minu hinnangul kuidagi siiski ei mõjutanud," ütles Lomp.

ERJK valmistas ise valemi. ERJK jaoks polnud SALK-i töö täpsel mõjul suuremat tähtsust, sest õun on õun ka juhul, kui see seda süües kõht tühjaks jääb. Küll aga oli komisjoni jaoks oluline, kuidas erakondadele jagatud õunad rahasse arvutada. Sihtasutus teatas komisjonile, et neil kulus erakondadega jagatud uuringutele 97 010 eurot. Sellele liitis komisjon ja leidis, et sihtasutuse teenus maksis kokku 115 715 eurot. Kuna SALK-i kinnitusel ei jagatud teadmisi ainult erakondadega, arvestas komisjon, et parteide peale kulus SALK-il neli viiendikku rahast ehk 92 572 eurot.

Erakonnad alles kaaluvad otsuse vaidlustamist. Kõigil erakondadel on 30 päeva aega, et komisjoni otsus halduskohtus vaidlustada. Ükski rahvusringhäälinguga rääkinud poliitik ei kinnitanud kohtusse minemist. Samas ütlesid kõik, et kaaluvad seda võimalust. "Erakond on selle nõude küll oma eelarves broneerinud aga see, kuidas me edasi läheme, nõuab natukene ka teiste erakondadega läbirääkimist, et kuidas nemad seda näevad," sõnas Ott.

The Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK) finds that the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK) donated services worth a total of 92,572 euros to four parties before the 2023 parliamentary elections. Committee chair Liisa Oviir said that the foundation purchased and conducted surveys, analyzed their results, and made them available to the four parties. According to Oviir, the parties were provided services without charge, while their competitors were not offered the same services. "And this quite clearly corresponds to what is prohibited under the Political Parties Act," Oviir added.

Timo Suslov, Secretary-General of the Reform Party, emphasized that the Reform Party did not order any services from SALK. "We did not invite them to our office to ask them to provide us with survey services. If there is no order, there can be no service," Suslov said. Anneli Ott, Secretary-General of the Center Party, shares his opinion. Ott asked whether a person who comes to talk about their work without being asked can later demand payment for that work from the one who listened to them.

Priit Lomp, Secretary-General of the Social Democratic Party, suggested looking to the future. "So that at some point we are not in a situation in Estonia where, three days before the elections, an information package from some organization conducting surveys drops into someone's mailbox, and then it is later claimed that this influenced the result," Lomp said.

ERJK chair Liisa Oviir emphasized that the foundation's work was not limited to a single information package or office meeting. The committee's work was spurred by an article published in Eesti Ekspress a few months after the elections, in which politicians themselves gave detailed explanations. "SALK provided all the data we needed," said Daniel Kõiv, who led Eesti 200's Tartu campaign for Ekspress, and explained how he repeatedly requested new models from SALK. According to Kõiv, he visited the foundation's database several times a week.

The parties believe that the apples offered by the foundation were already in their possession. "We certainly do not believe that we received any information that significantly or at all allowed us to change our campaign strategy," said Anneli Ott. Priit Lomp asked, if SALK's work had any influence, how is it possible that one party in contact with the foundation received 14 parliamentary mandates, another 39 mandates, and a third nine mandates. "In my estimation, this did not affect the party's result in a broader sense," Lomp said.

ERJK created its own formula. For ERJK, the exact impact of SALK's work was not of great importance, because an apple is an apple even if eating it leaves the stomach empty. However, it was important for the committee to calculate in monetary terms how the apples distributed to the parties should be valued. The foundation informed the committee that it spent 97,010 euros on the surveys shared with the parties. To this, the committee added labor costs and found that the foundation's service cost a total of 115,715 euros. Since SALK confirmed that knowledge was not shared only with the parties, the committee estimated that SALK spent four-fifths of the funds on the parties, or 92,572 euros.

The parties are still considering challenging the decision. All parties have 30 days to appeal the committee's decision in administrative court. None of the politicians who spoke to the public broadcaster confirmed going to court. However, all said they are considering this possibility. "The party has indeed reserved this claim in its budget, but how we proceed also requires some negotiation with other parties to see how they view it," Ott said.