Finnish prime minister resigns
Finnish prime minister Antti Rinne resigned on Tuesday before a confidence vote on his five-party coalition government on Wednesday.
Rinne’s five-party centre-left coalition came to office six months ago after his Social Democratic Party (SDP) narrowly won April’s parliamentary election.
However, following the resignation of the SDP minister in charge of overseeing state-owned firms, Sirpa Paatero on Friday political pressure was mounting. Paatero apparently misled parliament by failing to brief the parliament over the intention of the post office to shift a number of workers to a lower-paying contract.
Late Sunday evening, the five government party chairs held a crisis meeting in which the Centre party expressed a lack of confidence in Rinne. According to the Finnish public news agency Yle, Centre chair Katri Kulmuni insisted on Rinne’s resignation.
SDP deputy chair and Transport Minister, Sanna Marin, 34, is now expected to lead attempts to form a new government. Although she has Rinne’s support, her leadership will not be uncontested. The other candidate to succeed Rinne is the 37-year old Antti Lindtman, who heads up the SDP’s parliamentary caucus.
Polls suggest that the SPD is losing public confidence and appears to be surpassed by the nationalist Finns Party, the Greens and the National Coalition Party (NCP). The eurosceptic immigration hardliner Jussi Halla-aho has leapt from fifth place to lead the chart for the first time since 2010.