Premier Estland Juhan Parts treedt af (en)

Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts has decided to resign, after the parliament in Tallinn passed a vote of no confidence against his cabinet's justice minister.

Mr Parts will formally resign on Thursday (24 March).

Estonian President Arnold Rüütel has promised to find a new candidate prime minister as soon as possible. According to the Estonian constitution, the president has two weeks to name a new candidate.

It is yet unclear, who will get the chance to form the new coalition, however Mr Parts has hinted that he would be ready to form a new government.

At the same time all of the coalition parties, Res Publica, Reform Party and People's Union, believe that any kind of coalition is possible.

"Estonia is a member of the European Union and Nato. Never before had the national interests of Estonia been so well guaranteed on the international level, never before had Estonia been so powerfully represented in international organizations", Mr Parts said in his statement.

I hope a new government will emerge from the basis of a majority coalition and without unfounded delays so that it can carry on from where my cabinet left off, he added.

The motion against justice minister Ken-Marti Vaher was passed with 54 votes in the 101-seat parliament. Members of the Estonian parliament wanted Mr Vaher to step down because of his controversial anti-corruption plan.