Finland's Ruling Coalition Is at Risk After Lawmaker Defection
Finland's Ruling Coalition Is at Risk After Lawmaker Defection
(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s government grew a little shakier today after a lawmaker switched allegiance and a junior coalition partner said it was reviewing its options.
Kaj Turunen, a member of parliament in the Blue Reform party, said on Tuesday he will join the National Coalition Party led by Finance Minister Petteri Orpo. The move has left Blue Reform considering its options, with newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reporting that the group will discuss potentially quitting the coalition. If that were to happen, the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila would lose its majority in parliament.
“Mutual trust between the government parties is under threat,” Simon Elo, leader of the parliament group of Blue Reform, said on Twitter.
Blue Reform was created last summer after the euro-skeptic The Finns party split in two. Back then, the government only narrowly avoided collapse.
To contact the reporter on this story: Raine Tiessalo in Helsinki at rtiessalo@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Kati Pohjanpalo
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