The Finnish Parliament gave Finland’s Government a vote of confidence on Friday at the end of an opposition interpellation on the position of families with children. The vote in favour of the four-party coalition was 114 to 63.
In the decisive vote, Parliament voted down a motion of no confidence put forward by Green League MP Osmo Soininvaara. Before that, a previous motion put forward by Päivi Räsänen of the Christian Democrats was also voted down.
The interpellation was the first in which the Greens, who left the Government earlier this year, were involved in.
In the interpellation the opposition faulted the Government for failing in its policy toward families. The opposition asked if the Government planned to rescind cutbacks in family subsidies during the remaining months of the Parliamentary term.
The opposition MPs also asked if the Government plans to take action during this Parliamentary term to improve the position of families with children and to restore the credibility of family policy.
Answering the question on Tuesday, Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen (SDP) said that the Government has enacted a number of reforms that improve the position of families, but that the work must continue into the next Parliamentary term as well. He also said that plans covering the whole next Parliamentary term are needed to improve the position of families with children.
STT / YLE24