Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne Steps Down After Losing Support from Key Ally
Finland’s Prime Minister Survives Dramatic Effort to Unseat Him
(Bloomberg) -- Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne was forced to step down just six months into his term after a key political ally withdrew its support.
The dramatic move comes amid a souring of relations within the ruling five-party coalition and a sharp drop in support for the government.
With Rinne out of the picture, Finns are now wondering who will govern them. The ruling coalition wants to continue with a different leader, but the opposition has made clear it wants to be included in the government talks.
Rinne’s position as prime minister became untenable after he bungled a pay dispute at the state postal company. Lawmakers balked after the 57-year-old appeared to mislead parliament about his involvement in pay talks, which are traditionally kept free of political intervention.
But the broader conflict has centered on Rinne himself, who’s a former union boss. Neither the Social Democrats nor the Center Party, which drove him out, wants to break up the existing coalition, provided they can continue with a different leader.
Rinne, who handed his resignation to President Sauli Niinisto on Tuesday, says he plans to continue to lead the Social Democrats. He also says he expects the coalition to stay together.
Two Candidates
The Social Democrats, or SDP, have indicated that they’re now weighing the merits of at least two potential successors to Rinne.
One is Sanna Marin, a 34-year-old who would become the youngest prime minister in Finnish history, and the third woman to hold the job. She’s currently transport and communications minister, and has been a member of parliament since 2015.
The other candidate is Antti Lindtman. The 37-year-old is the chairman of the Social Democratic Party’s group of lawmakers and has held a seat in the legislature since 2011.
Whoever takes over will need to fix the damage done to the coalition. Marin said her focus will be on “restoring trust.”
The leader of the opposition National Coalition party, Petteri Orpo, has asked that all parties be allowed to join talks to form the next government.
Meanwhile, the anti-immigration Finns party has grown to become the country’s most popular, according to latest polls, with threat posed by the Finns helping keep the Center Party and the Social Democrats together.
Rinne’s resignation means a no-confidence vote that had been brought by the opposition will no longer be held and the government will continue in a caretaker capacity.
His departure “is a good thing if it restores confidence between the governing parties,” said Pasi Kuoppamaki, chief economist at Danske Bank A/S in Helsinki. He also said “the immediate impact for the Finnish economy will be small.”
Four weeks remain of Finland’s rotating presidency of the European Union, and the caretaker government will be able to carry out its duties with the help of the parliament, Speaker Matti Vanhanen said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net;Leo Laikola in Helsinki at llaikola@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Nick Rigillo
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.