On March 8, Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila announced the center-right government’s resignation at a news conference. This decision came as the government failed to pass a social and health reform measure. However, Sipila will remain a part of the parliament and serve in a “caretaking role” according to AP News.
Many saw the resignation as a deliberate move by the government to allow the center-right party to focus on garnering support ahead of the April 14 parliamentary election without having to worry about passing reform measures. “The coalition partners can focus on campaigning for the elections without needing to cooperate closely,” Pasi Kuoppamäki, chief economist at the Helsinki branch of Danske Bank A/S told Fortune.
The planned reform was intended to address both concerns about Finland’s aging population and reducing public spending while improving efficiency. The aim of this reform was to shift control of local healthcare from 190 local authorities to 18 regional counties as well as give a greater amount of control to the private sector. The center-right government needed support to push these measures through parliament, but it wasn’t able to get enough before April 14. Sipila had promised to resign if the reform failed to pass.
Opposition parties may use the resignation as an opportunity to gain more seats in the Finnish Parliament. The coalition government made up of the National Coalition party, the Blue Reform party and the Center party currently hold 123 of 200 seats of parliament, but this could easily change. Elections will be held on April 14 to renew the Eduskunta seats.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Nene Narh-Mensah of Montgomery Blair High School