Jüri Ratas' second cabinet

Ratas had previously ruled out forming a coalition with EKRE during the election campaign because of differences between their views.[9]

"When I said before that it would be impossible for me to cooperate with a political party which cuts heads off, doesn't agree to certain nationalities or races, then EKRE has indeed said those things."[9]

— Ratas talking about EKRE in November 2018, widely interpreted as ruling out a coalition with EKRE.

The subsequent reversal of his stance and the inclusion of EKRE by Ratas in coalition talks after the elections was met with local and international criticism. In a poll conducted after the start of the coalition talks, the party of Jüri Ratas further lost support.[10][11]

The cabinet faced criticism for having only two women, Centre Mailis Reps and Isamaa Riina Solman, with Conservative People's Party fielding a full male line-up for their portfolios.[12][13] Conservative People's later also named a female minister, Kert Kingo, after the resignation of Marti Kuusik.[14]

The Chairman of Conservative People's Party and Minister of the Interior Mart Helme faced criticism for calling president Kersti Kaljulaid an "emotionally heated woman".[15][16]

A public debate on freedom of speech started after controversial actions by the new cabinet parties. On 28 March 2019 Conservative People's proposed new Minister of Finance, Martin Helme, demanded that Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) would ban and punish journalists who had criticised his party.[17] On 22 April journalist Vilja Kiisler left Postimees, one of the biggest newspapers in Estonia, due to differences with the paper’s newly appointed editor-in-chief[18] on her op-ed about the policies of the Conservative People’s Party. The editor-in-chief Peeter Helme is the nephew of the leader of the Conservative People’s Party Mart Helme and the newspaper is owned by a member and financier of the third government party Pro Partia.[19] On 26 April journalist Ahto Lobjakas announced quitting the ERR where, he said, he was given a choice between self-censorship and leaving.[20] On the swearing-in of the new cabinet president Kersti Kaljulaid wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan Sõna on vaba (the word/speech is free) as a statement of the importance of the freedom of speech.[21]

On 14 May 2019, Minister of the Interior Mart Helme accused ERR's United States correspondent Maria-Ann Rohemäe of deceiving and lying.[22] ERR responded with public statement in support of their journalist and condemning attacks against journalists.[23]

Conservative People's Party of Estonia Mart Helme Minister of the Interior and his son Minister of Finance Martin Helme caused some controversy by publicly flashed the "OK" hand gesture which is a hand signal that has been come to be seen as a white supremacist symbol.[24][25] MP Jaak Madison commented afterwards that the symbols were used as "pure trolling" in order to rile the media and the party’s opponents.[26]

In May 2019, when Marine Le Pen was visiting Estonia for discussions with EKRE, MP Ruuben Kaalep and Le Pen took a selfie together with both flashing the same gesture.[27]

In the next morning after the elections Conservative People's proposed new Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology Marti Kuusik was caught by the police speeding (74 km/h in 50 km/h zone) and driving under the influence.[28] Both prime minister Jüri Ratas and Conservative People's Party stated that they do not see this as a reason to replace Kuusik.[29]

On 29 April 2019, reports emerged of alleged history of Kuusik's domestic violence including breaking his wife's arm bone twice.[30] Kuusik denied the accusations.[31] Following the emergency meeting with Kuusik and Conservative People's delegation Ratas decided that there is no need to replace Kuusik and that he can take the oath of office.[32] Before Kuusik took the oath president Kaljulaid left the room, leaving Kuusik to bow for the empty seat. Kaljulaid promised to be the first to apologize to Kuusik should the accusations not be true.[33]

On the same day, a criminal investigation was launched to determine whether the accusations were true.[34] On 30 April 2019 the Director General of the Police and the Prosecutor General gave Ratas an overview of the collected evidence after which Ratas handed over Kuusk's letter of resignation to the President. Kuusk denied all the accusations reasoning that he resigns to ensure the stability of the government and to protect his family while focusing on disproving the accusations.[35] Chairman of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia Mart Helme heavily criticized the ousting of Kuusik, calling it a witch hunt.[36]

The Conservative Party struggled to find a nominee with a number of people declining the offer.[37] Finally two weeks after Kuusik's resignation Kert Kingo was appointed as a replacement for Kuusik.[14]

On 25 October 2019, Minister of Foreign Trade and IT Kert Kingo resigned after being caught lying in front of the Riigikogu about the appointment of her new adviser who had posted sexually offensive remarks in Facebook.[38] On 2 November 2019 Kaimar Karu was appointed as a replacement for Kingo.[39]

On 25 November 2019, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas proposed the dismissal of the Minister of Rural Affairs Mart Järvik after a commission of inquiry led by the Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop had found that Järvik had exceeded his authority and made inconsistent statements regarding findings of Listeria bacteria at a fish packing plant.[40] After Järvik's dismissal by the President, he was followed in the position by Arvo Aller.[41]

On the morning of 17 April 2020, Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology Kaimar Karu announced on social media that the chairman of the Conservative People's Party Mart Helme has recalled him from the government. Helme accused Karu for not respecting party values, including their anti immigration views. Karu had been under strain for not supporting changes made to the Aliens Act.[42] Raul Siem was appointed as a replacement for Karu.[43]

On 4 November 2020, Minister of the Environment Rene Kokk resigned on health reasons, both Jüri Ratas and Martin Helme stressed that his resignation had nothing to do with the unfinished forestry development plan.[44] On 12 November, Rain Epler was confirmed as the new minister.[45] Epler does not believe that the global warming is primarily caused by human activity and supports nuclear power.[46]

On 9 November 2020, Minister of the Interior Mart Helme, a supporter of Donald Trump, resigned due to political pressure after he and his son, Minister of Finance, Martin Helme had in their weekly radio show called 2020 United States presidential elections fraudulent, rigged by the "deep state" and US president elect Joe Biden a corrupt character.[47] On 18 November 2020, Alar Laneman was confirmed as the new minister.[48]

On 20 November 2020, Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps resigned due to the media criticism on her usage of the official ministerial vehicles for her personal purposes.[49] She was replaced by Minister of Public Administration Jaak Aab, with Anneli Ott inheriting Aab's former post.[50]