Estonia considers constitutional amendment stripping certain noncitizens of right to vote in local elections

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has urged politicians to honestly analyze all implications and think several steps ahead as the Riigikogu moves to expedite a constitutional amendment which, were it to enter into effect, would strip citizens of third country aggressor states permanently resident in Estonia of their right to vote in local elections. Speaking to "Esimene stuudio," the justice chancellor said in today's world, voting rights tend to be seen as a fundamental human right. This is enshrined in the stance of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, which states that long-term residents of a European country should have the right to vote in local elections in that country. Nonetheless, Madise said, sometimes fundamental rights do get restricted or taken away, in special cases. [ . . . ] She said: "If the current Riigikogu were to assess the situation and the long-term benefits for the Estonian people, for internal peace and the strengthening of Estonia's foreign policy positions differently from how the Constitutional Assembly did; if the Riigikogu were to consider all the desired and undesired effects, tp find a very reasonable and applicable constitutional amendment text, and were to discuss it as the Constitution itself prescribes, and if the President of the Republic promulgates it – since the president has the right to refuse to do so – and, finally, the amendment comes into force, then the Constitution will be amended. And that is how things are – the Riigikogu would have disbursed its tasks, and it is our duty to respect that."
Read the full article here: ERR News