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Finnish president enlarges cabinet, appoints 3 new ministers

Xinhua, May 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto appointed three new ministers on Friday, bringing the current cabinet to an enlarged 17 ministers.

When Center Party chair Juha Sipila formed the coalition government in May of 2015, the size of cabinet was reduced from 19 to 14 ministers by combining several portfolios.

This reduction of cabinet led to overwhelming workloads, according to some ministers. Furthermore, the combination of the portfolios, such as justice and employment was also considered unreasonable.

Therefore, in its half term consultations at the end of April, the government decided to enlarge the cabinet to 17 ministers.

The president has appointed the cabinet positions of minister of agriculture and forestry, the minister of justice, and the minister for European affairs, culture and sport.

The former minister of justice and employment will remain in Sipila's government as minister of employment; the former minister of agriculture and the environment will be minister of the environment; and the former minister of education and culture will be the minister of education.

The new ministers assumed office at the beginning of the plenary session held on Friday, the Finnish government said. Endit