Off the wire
• EU household electricity prices rose by 2.9 pct in 2014  • President Xi stresses role of reform in "new normal"  • China vows to promote ties with Indonesia via people-to-people exchange  • 2nd LD Writethru: Danish parliamentary election set for June 18  • Another 28 sentenced in central China prostitution cases  • Supreme procuratorate looks into fatal rest home fire  • Former legislator stands trial for sex business  • Update: Saudi-led air strikes kill dozens in Yemen  • China's medical assistance raises national capacity to prevent epidemics: Nepal  • French consumers express more pessimism in May  
You are here: 　 Home

3rd LD Writethru: Finland unveils allocation of ministerial posts, new governmental program

Xinhua, May 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The new three-party ruling coalition of Finland announced the allocation of ministerial posts of the incoming government on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will be Juha Sipila, chairman of the Center Party; the Minister of Finance will be Alexander Stubb, chairman of the National Coalition Party; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs will be Timo Soini, leader of the Finns Party.

The allocations came as a surprise as previous predictions anticipated a different outcome. In the forecast made by Finnish media, Timo Soini was expected to handle the finance portfolio, and Alexander Stubb, foreign affairs.

The new cabinet will have a total of 14 ministers, three less than the current government. Efficiency was given as the main reason for the downsizing.

Apart from the post of Prime Minister, the Center Party will also have the ministerial posts of Economic Affairs, Environment, Transport, Family and Basic Social Security, Agriculture and Forestry, and Municipalities and Reforms.

According to the preliminary agreement, the Finns Party will take the ministerial posts of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Labor, Defense, and Social Affairs and Health.

The National Coalition Party will take the posts of Finance, Education and Culture, Interior, as well as Foreign Trade and International Development.

The names of the other cabinet members will be unveiled later this week.

The announcement came after a three-week long governmental formation talk, which started at the beginning of May and concluded on Tuesday.

The negotiators also reached an agreement on a new governmental program to be fulfilled during the next four years. The program was partially unveiled at the press conference on Wednesday.

The would-be Prime Minister Sipila said Finland will have to cut six billion euros (6.49 billion U.S. dollars) public spending by 2021, and it will be achieved by reducing social benefits, increasing service charges, cutting education and business supports.

At the same time, the new government will invest 1.6 billion euros in infrastructure spending, in order to stimulate the stagnant economy.

Regarding foreign and security policies, Timo Soini, the future Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that Finland is going to maintain good relations with Russia while retain the possibility to apply for the membership of the defense alliance NATO.

The governmental program will be submitted to party boards for approval before the government is officially formed. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Endit