Estonian United Left Party

The Estonian United Left Party (Estonian: Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei, Russian: Объединённая левая партия Эстонии, romanized: Obyedinyonnaya levaya partiya Estonii) is a political party in Estonia representing the Russian minority in Estonia. Through the Estonian Left Party, the party, founded in 2008, is the direct descendant of the Communist Party of Estonia, the former ruling party of Estonia during the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic period.

Estonian United Left Party
Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei
LeaderKeijo Lindeberg
Founded28 June 2008 (2008-06-28)
Merger ofEstonian Left Party
Constitution Party
HeadquartersKeemikute tn 26–2, Maardu
Membership (2023)Decrease 512[1]
IdeologyDemocratic socialism[2]
Russian minority politics[3][4][5]
Political positionLeft-wing[6]
European affiliationParty of the European Left
Colours  Red
Riigikogu
0 / 101
European Parliament
(Estonian seats)
0 / 7
Website
Official website

Since 2004, through the Estonian Left Party, the party is a founding member of the Party of the European Left.

History

On 28 June 2008, the Estonian Left Party (a party comprising most of the remnants of the post-1990 Communist Party of Estonia) and the Constitution Party (one of two parties representing the Russian minority in Estonia) merged to form the Estonian United Left Party (Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei).[7] Despite the party's professed adherence to a left-wing direction, some observers and journalists have noted and claimed that the party is perceived to be more interested in catering to Russian minority politics and has been relatively marginal in Estonian politics.[8] In particular, party chairman Mstislav Rusakov made a comment about the party's apparent obscurity for an interview for Eesti Rahvusringhääling: "The problem is to convey this information to people, because, as I already said, go out into the street, ask: "The United Left Party ...?", they will tell you: "What is this?".[8] Meanwhile, in an opinion article for the online Russian-language edition of Postimees, Valery Saïkovski asserts that the party is primarily relevant for Russian minority politics purposes.[5]

In 2018, there were posters in Tallinn allegedly from the EÜVP that endorsed Pavel Grudinin, the presidential candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation running in the 2018 Russian presidential election. However, the party has denied that they are responsible for these posters, and the Russian Embassy in Estonia called them "low quality craft".[9]

For the 2023 Estonian parliamentary elections, the party ran informally with members of Together who joined the party due to failing to register their own before the registration deadline.[10][11] The Estonian United Left Party earned a record high of 2.4% votes in the election and thus qualified for state funding for the very first time, shocking many pundits.[12][13][14] Most of the votes earned by the party came from people voters of Together founder Aivo Peterson.[15]

Rebranding and change in leadership

In August 2023, then-party leader Igor Rosenfeld was removed by court order and replaced with barrister Keijo Lindberg as a substitute member of the board until the next party board elections.[16] In September 2023, the party announced its intention to rebrand as Left-Wingers or the Left (Estonian: Vasakpoolsed) by early 2024, launching a new website and social media presence after being informed by the court that law requires the former to exist for every single party.[17] The party's Twitter account was temporarily restricted.

Ideology

Then-party leader Igor Rosenfeld has notably complained about the party having been taken over by "Russian conservatives" between 2018 and 2022.[18] He also referred to Russia as an empire and said the party supports an independent Ukraine as opposed to one under Russia, adding that it should be "more neutral" and "less agressive towards Russia". He blames the "Russian elite" and "radicals on both sides" for the invasion of Ukraine, claiming that the "banderite" "Ukrainian radicals" took power in 2014 and that the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and Rodina are war parties. He also labelled his own party Eurocommunist.[19][20] He referred to the Revolution of Dignity as a coup and ruled out further cooperation with Together if they are prosecuted, stating that "we will not be able to cooperate with those people who will be recognized as violating the law" and "we do not want to violate the laws of the Republic of Estonia in any way".[21]

He also mentioned that the party doesn't support the Russian world theory promoted by "radical parts" of Together. He also claimed that a member of Parempoolsed had been appointed to replace him on the party board by the Harju County Court following the court's move to appoint barrister Keijo Lindberg as the sole substitute member of the board after his removal. Rosenfeld commented on the move as a "right-wing dictatorship" attack on the party, tying them together with Together and seeking to liquidate the party, adding that there's a "special Baltic order in the EU" that is "Francoist" and "not a democracy".[22]

Election results

Parliamentary elections
Election Votes  % Seats +/− Government
2015 764 0.1 (#10)
0 / 101
 New Extra-parliamentary
2019 511 0.1 (#10)
0 / 101
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2023[lower-alpha 1] 14,605 2.4 (#7)
0 / 101
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
  1. In coalition with Koos.

European Parliament elections
Election Votes Seats Pos.
#  % ± pp # ±
2009[23] 3,519 0.89 new
0 / 6
 new 10th
2014[24] 226 0.07 Decrease 0.82
0 / 6
 Steady 0 17th
2019 221 0.07 Steady 0
0 / 6
 Steady 0 13th


Notes

    References
    1. "Äriregistri teabesüsteem" (in Estonian). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
    2. Kelomees, Herman (August 2022). "Eesti kommunistid soovivad tuhast tõusta".
    3. Toots, Anu (March 2019). "2019 Parliamentary elections in Estonia" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
    4. Lanko, Dmitry (2015). "Estonian Political Parties in the mid-2010s" (PDF). Open Access Repository.
    5. Saïkovski, Valery (2 December 2020). "Non-systemic left opposition: why there are almost only Russians and there is no result". Postimees. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    6. Siaroff, Alan (2019). Comparative European Party System (PDF). p. 237. ISBN 978-1-138-88805-0.
    7. "Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei on loodud".
    8. Nizametdinov, Ildar (11 November 2018). "Sociologist about OLPE: Estonians perceive this party as purely Russian and too radical (In Russian)". err.ee. Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Estonian Public Broadcasting). Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    9. "Posters appeared on the streets of Tallinn calling for voting "for Grudinin"". rus.delfi.ee. Delfi. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
    10. "Eesti putinistide erakonda ei registeeritud ja riigikogu valimistel nad osaleda ei tohi". Eesti Ekspress (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
    11. ERR (14 January 2023). "Valimistel kavatseb osaleda ka Ühendatud Vasakpartei". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
    12. ERR, Mari-Liis Jakobson, Tallinna Ülikooli poliitikasotsioloogia dotsent | (6 March 2023). "Mari-Liis Jakobson: riigikogu valimiste üllatajad, võitjad ja kaotajad". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    13. "Politoloog: huvitav, kas Stalnuhhin, Peterson ja muu kamp suudaks järgmistel valimistel koostööd teha?". Delfi (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
    14. "TAGATUBA | Uue valitsuse tuleproov: Vene kodanike hääleõigus ja agressorriigist tuleva kampaania tõrjumine". Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
    15. ERR (6 March 2023). "Vasakpartei ja Parempoolsed hakkavad saama riigitoetust". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
    16. "Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei juhatuse asendusliikmeks määrati vandeadvokaat Keijo Lindeberg – Vasakpoolsed | Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei" (in Estonian). Retrieved 12 October 2023.
    17. "Vasakpoolsed 2.0 – Vasakpoolsed | Eestimaa Ühendatud Vasakpartei" (in Estonian). Retrieved 12 October 2023.
    18. "О ликвидации Объединенной Левой партии Эстонии правой политической машиной в начале мая 2022 г. | Игорь Розенфельд" (in Russian). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
    19. "Eesti kommunistid soovivad tuhast tõusta. Partei pealik: sarnaneme Keskerakonna vasaktiivale". Delfi (in Estonian). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
    20. "EÜVP juht Rosenfeld: Aivo Petersoni reis Donetskisse läks üle piiri". Delfi (in Estonian). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
    21. "Левая партия и Koos могут расстаться? Председатель Розенфельд: я не знаю, где Петерсон". Delfi RUS (in Russian). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
    22. "Ситуация вокруг Левой партии Эстонии к середине августа 2023 г. Основные события весны и лета этого года. | Игорь Розенфельд" (in Russian). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
    23. "Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2009" (in Estonian). Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
    24. "Euroopa Parlamendi valimised 2014" (in Estonian). Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
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