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Juha Sipila formally elected as Finland's new PM

Xinhua, May 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Finnish parliament formally elected the Center Party chairman Juha Sipila as the new prime minister of Finland on Thursday.

In the parliamentary session held on Thursday afternoon, Sipila was elected with 128 votes in favor and 62 votes against.

The election was held based on the Finnish President Sauli Niinisto's nomination of prime ministerial candidate, according to the parliament.

After a three-week governmental formation talk, the new three-party ruling coalition announced the lineup of next government on Wednesday, with Sipila to be the prime minister.

The 54-year-old Sipila had been a successful IT businessman before turning to politics in Finland. He was elected to the parliament in 2011 and the chairman of the Center Party in 2012.

He led his party to a triumph in the parliamentary election in April and was supposed to become chief of the next government.

After Thursday's vote, the parliament will hand over the election result to President Niinisto for approval. Niinisto is expected to formally appoint the position on Friday. Endit