Jussi Halla-aho , chair of the nationalist Finns Party, led by a clear margin when Finns were asked which party leader has been most successful in their post. Nearly a quarter of respondents chose Halla-aho when presented with a list of party chairs.
 Only Left Alliance chair  Li Andersson  came anywhere near, selected by 16 percent of respondents. The leaders of the other half-dozen parties in Parliament all scored below 10 percent support.
 Last month, Jyväskylä-based pollster Tietoykkönen queried more than 1,000 people for the Uutissuomalainen newspaper group, which published the findings on Saturday.
 Nearly one third of respondents were unable to pick an effective party leader when offered a list of the chairs of all parties and groups in the legislature.
 Support for Halla-aho, Andersson up since spring
 Since a similar poll was carried out in April, Halla-aho's support rose by 10 percentage points, from 14 to 24 percent.
 Halla-aho, 48, has led the populist party since mid-2017, when he replaced founder  Timo Soini , who left to form a splinter group which has since collapsed. The Finns Party has been in opposition since then,  leading public opinion polls  for most of this year. In 2012, Halla-aho was convicted of  inciting hatred  against an ethnic group.
 Andersson, 32, has led her party since mid-2016, becoming Education Minister this past summer. Her support in this poll rose from 12 percent last spring to 16 percent in October.
 Faring best of the other chairs was former finance minister  Petteri Orpo  of the opposition National Coalition Party, who garnered eight percent support, up from six percent last spring.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  of the SDP was chosen by just six percent of respondents, down from seven percent in April.
 The Centre and Greens have new chairs since then, and the results for the other groups in Parliament were too low to be statistically significant. The USU online survey's margin is estimated to be around three percentage points in either direction.


Politicians in Finland are divided over a new policy position from deputy parliamentary ombudsman  Pasi Pölönen  that states that school celebrations to mark Christmas or the end of the academic year should not be held in churches.
 Finnish schools remain closely linked to the two national religions: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Finnish Orthodox Church, and it is not uncommon for school events to be arranged on their premises.
 The deputy parliamentary ombudsman, who is charged with ensuring that state officials observe the law, said in the policy position that school celebrations should be inclusive, and therefore arranged in a way that all of the pupils can participate, regardless of their beliefs.
 Churches convey religious messages
 The ombudsman also reasoned that holding school functions in churches is problematic because the buildings are intended for religious services and therefore convey religious messages.
 His decision has been received with both criticism and praise in the Finnish Parliament. The Left Alliance and the Greens have commended Pölönen's recommendation, but representatives of the Centre, Finns and National Coalition parties (NCP) have denounced his position.
 NCP chair  Petteri Orpo  and Centre Party chair  Katri Kulmuni  were quick to comment, arguing that churches should remain an alternative venue for school events.
 Centre Party MP and constitutional law committee member  Markus Lohi  said that the deputy ombudsman's decision directly contradicted the committee's unanimous decision from 2014. He also noted that holding a school function in a church does not automatically make the event religious.
 NCP: Policy should be made clearer
 In a joint statement, NCP members of the parliamentary constitutional law committee  Wille Rydman  and  Heikki Vestman  said that Pölönen's decision is "at least in tension" with the committee's earlier interpretation. The conservative party MPs asked the committee to clarify the situation.
 In his blog, Rydman goes into greater detail about his take on the issue. The MP said that in his opinion, the deputy parliamentary ombudsman's decision seems to have been based more on the wording of the Basic Education Decree, and not on what the constitutional committee had ruled.
 "This is quite problematic, especially since the parliamentary constitutional law committee has its own stridently-worded recommendation. This was largely necessary because the position of the ombudsmen had diverged from the view of the committee. Now we find ourselves in the same situation," Rydman said.
 The deputy parliamentary ombudsman's policy position has also led to consternation among nationalist Finns Party parliamentarians.
 Committee expected to disagree
 The Finnish Parliament's constitutional law committee will likely have to take a position on the deputy ombudsman's position in the near future. The last time the committee presented its interpretation of the matter dates back to 2014, in connection with the Chancellor of Justice's report from that year.
 The Chancellor of Justice's annual report from 2018 is still on the committee's desk, awaiting consideration, as budget negotiations pushed it off the agenda. There has been no time to hear any expert testimony on the report either.
 The constitutional law committee has not yet discussed the new school celebration guidelines from the deputy ombudsman, but consideration of the 2018 report might provide a good opportunity to do so.
 The committee's report on the ombudsman office's annual report was completed in October, before the new policy position from deputy Pölönen was released.
 MPs will debate the 2018 ombudsman report on Wednesday evening in parliament, and the school celebration venue issue is expected to come up in debate.


After years of negotiations and planning in the Sámi Parliament, the Finnish government has agreed to the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for Sámi peoples in Finland.
 When formed, the independent five-member commission will closely investigate the historical background of what the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland consider the decades-long oppression of the Sámi peoples at the hands of the Finnish government.
 On Wednesday the government held an evening meeting to discuss the mandate prepared for the coming commission. The government concluded that the designation process for the commission could now begin.
 The Finnish government has prepared the commission's mandate throughout 2019 together with the Sámi Parliament and the Skolt Sámi village meetings. The TRC designation and strategy process will begin once the mandate has been reviewed by both Sámi assemblies in December, the government announced.
 Years of work pay off
 Sámi Parliament chair  Tiina Sanila-Aikio  said she considers the government's decision to be a significant step in the formation of the commission, after waiting a long time for a concrete response.
 Story continues after photo.
 Sámi Parliament chair Tiina Sanila-Aikio said the final report is years away. Vesa Toppari / Yle
 "We started work on the commission almost four years ago, when the formation of the TRC was first logged in our Parliament's strategy," said Sanila-Aikio. "After many hearings and meetings, this is the first official step."
 Skolt Sámi representative  Veikko Feodoroff  echoed the sentiment.
 "This is an important issue. We've worked very hard to get the commission off the ground in Finland."
 After government adjourned on Wednesday Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  went on social media to say she was pleased that the TRC process has taken a step forward.
 She said that Finland must take responsibility for the wrongs of the past.
 Story continues after photo.
 Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo said the Sámi Parliament's work has been "invaluable". Laura Kotila/valtioneuvoston kanslia
 "Sámi people have had a weak status in Finland in many ways. The government has not respected Sámi land rights, and Sámi people were forced to integrate into Finnish culture all the way up to the 1970s. Finland has been scorned by international groups concerning its treatment of the Sámi, even in recent years," Ohisalo said.
 The goal of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to investigate the extent of the Finnish government's responsibility in committing historical atrocities, and to find a way to reconcile those wrongs by dealing with the facts of the past.
 "The Sámi Parliament and many Sámi activists have had to work very hard to make this commission a reality. Their work has been invaluable."
 Psychological support an ethical prerequisite
 The Finnish government held a total of 29 TRC hearings across the Sámi region and in various Finnish cities in 2018. A total of 300 Sámi people took part in these talks in person or via email, representing some 2.5 percent of Finland's Sámi minority.
 Sanila-Aikio said that the commission's work will take years before completion.
 "It's hard to know in advance how long the proper hearings and interviews will last. The commission must gather all relevant information and listen to Sámi people's experiences. We also need to scrutinise the part that the government and the authorities have played in Sámi history. It will be a couple of years at least until we have a final report," Sanila-Aikio said.
 The TRC will likely deal with sensitive issues and traumatic experiences among Europe's northernmost indigenous peoples. That is why organising a psychological and social support structure has been one of the conditions of the commission's founding.
 "We do not have culturally sensitive Sámi-language mental health services in Finland. The experts we have spoken to have strongly emphasised that psycho-social support must be guaranteed for the process to be ethical," Sanila-Aikio said.


The conservative National Coalition's online Verkkouutiset says the subject of immigration has dominated Finns Party MPs' speeches during parliamentary question hour since  Antti Rinne 's government took office.
 The publication reports that hard-right populist Finns Party MPs have either raised the issue of immigration or foreigners during nine of the 11 parliamentary question hours this term. These  weekly sessions  are an opportunity for legislators to put questions to the government about its policy on current topics.
 The Finns Party has only on two occasions last month—3 and 17 October—brought up issues other than immigration.
 As the largest opposition party in Parliament, the Finns Party has the right to pose the first question, which generally leads to a half hour discussion, swallowing half of the 60-minute session.
 The National Coalition Party is the second-largest opposition party after the Finns Party, following  general elections  earlier this year.


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed scepticism about the Finnish government's goal of attaining a balanced budget during its four-year legislative term.
 "The government plans to make the budget balance by 2023, in large part by boosting employment. But our view of likely growth and employment indicates the government would still have to borrow about one percent of GDP in 2023," the IMF said in its report on the Finnish economy.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's centre-left cabinet, which took office in June, aims to balance the budget by 2023, despite agreeing on a 2020 budget deficit of two billion euros earlier this autumn. To that end, it intends to create 60,000 new jobs, raising the employment rate to 75 percent from the current 72.8 percent.
 "Look at leave and home-care benefits"
 "Keep your eye on fiscal sustainability. There's a probability, more than likely, that the budget will not be in balance in 2023," IMF senior economist and mission head  Alasdair Scott  said on a visit to Helsinki on Tuesday.
 The IMF predicts that the Finnish economy will grow by 1.25 percent this year, rising to 1.5 percent in 2020. Last year it expanded by 1.7 percent.
 "To boost employment, the government could look at leave and home-care benefits, which generate incentives for women to stay at home, and tax and benefit schedules that mean that some face a financial penalty to work, rather than stay unemployed or out of the workforce," the IMF suggested.
 Environmentally harmful subsidies
 The IMF report points out that various kinds of environmentally harmful subsidies, such as those for peat production, add up to 3.5 billion euros a year. Scott urged reconsideration of these, especially since the cabinet has promised that the country will be carbon-neutral by 2035.
 In a statement, Minister of Finance  Mika Lintilä  conceded that the targets in the government agenda will be challenging to attain.
 "The Government Programme is demanding. It is clear that the cornerstones are a fiscal balance, a restructuring of health and social services and raising of the employment rate. These will not be achieved automatically, but require determined action," he said.
 The IMF also applauded the government's recommendation that banks limit the ratio of household debt to income. The Bank of Finland has long expressed concerned about household debt and the fact that housing company loans are making up a growing share of the housing loan market.


Helsingin Sanomat  reports  on Tuesday that talks on resolving the dispute in the postal sector remain deadlocked.
 The talks were close to a resolution on Monday evening but then the two sides moved further apart, meaning that they reconvene on Tuesday at the National Labour Conciliator’s office.
 The issue remains the collective agreement applying to 700 parcel sorting office workers who the national postal company Posti has transferred to a subsidiary, worsening their terms and conditions.
 SDP on slippery slope
 Ilta-Sanomat  looks at  the political background to the strike. As Posti is a state-owned company, it falls under the purview of  Sirpa Paatero , the Minister for State Ownership Steering.
 She had said in parliament that she wasn’t asked about the transfer of the 700 workers to an inferior collective agreement on wages and terms and conditions.
 However Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  had also claimed in parliament that the government had prevented Posti from transferring some 10,000 workers to the lower-pay package.
 The question IS not unreasonably poses is how the government can claim an active role in one case and ignorance in the other.
 It’s an especially thorny issue for Rinne, who previously headed up the Pro trade union, and Paatero, who is also in the union-backed Social Democrat Party.
 No pikkujoulu no party
 The deadlocked dispute  means  widespread disruption to flights as aviation workers continue sympathy action, and some early morning bus services were cancelled in Helsinki as drivers returned to work.
 Maritime workers are also taking action, refusing to join Finnish-flagged vessels and effectively keeping them in port.
 Iltalehti  reports  that this could have been a problem for the Maritime workers union, which is having a Christmas party on a ship on Tuesday.
 Happily for them, however, the ship on which they are partying is an Estonian-flagged vessel and able to continue on its merry way. Until Thursday when, if the dispute is not resolved, foreign-flagged ferries will also be left in port thanks to support action from dockworkers.
 Baltzar case shocks Finland
 Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday  published  an investigation into a theatre company run by  Veijo Baltzar , an internationally renowned Roma cultural figure.
 Reporters spoke to several women who said they were drawn into the Drom theatre company as teenagers through promises of stardom, only to find a controlling atmosphere.
 They described a set up in which teenage girls were brought in to the company and told to flirt with Baltzar, and his favoured young women were required to live at his home.
 One mother told the paper of her struggles to extract her daughter from the situation, and several women corroborated the claims about Baltzar’s  questionable methods .
 Baltzar was arrested last week on suspicion of aggravated human trafficking.
 The story has rumbled on in the press, with senior politicians wondering how they did not know and others arguing that Baltzar hid in plain sight: in the time before #metoo, it seems nobody was listening.
 Paleface goes wobbly
 Finnish rapper  Paleface  (real name  Karri Miettinen ) has a new record out this week, and it’s a little bit different.
 Together with the Lauluvan unioni group he has recorded an album of songs dating from the Finnish sections of the International Workers of the World (IWW) in North America.
 Helsingin Sanomat  reports  the background to the record, which came about when researcher Saijaleena Rantanen discovered a Finnish-language copy of an IWW songbook at Immigration History Research Centre in Minnesota.
 The album, ‘Tie Vapauteen’ or ‘road to freedom’, recalls the politics of Finnish immigrants in the United States and Canada in the early years of the 20th century.
 Many of them joined the anarcho-syndicalist IWW, members of which were colloquially known as ‘wobblies’, and published Finnish language newspapers and held Finnish language meetings and dances.


Although the  postal strikes and associated sympathy actions were called off on Wednesday , Finland could still see a wave of industrial action this autumn, as strikes and lockouts threaten in different industries across the economy.
 Ilta-Sanomat  suggests  that the current round of negotiations could see wave of strikes affecting some 100,000 workers, with the  forest products industry’s lockout  just the start.
 This is a symptom of particularly difficult negotiations across the labour market. Since the Confederation of Finnish Industries announced in 2017 that it would no longer co-ordinate talks across the economy on behalf of employers, unions in each sector have been left to fight their own battles.
 This time round employers and unions have a number of demands in most talks. Unions want to eliminate the ‘kiky’ competitiveness pact rules, which increased working hours by some 24 hours a year.
 Employers want to keep hold of that change, and according to the Pro trade union some are also proposing they stop deducting union fees directly from workers’ salaries and further restrictions on strike actions.
 SDP in trouble
 All this is problematic for Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  and his Social Democratic Party. Rinne used to lead the Pro trade union, and has come under pressure from unions to intervene and from employers to stay neutral in his role as PM.
 Helsingin Sanomat  publishes  an analysis piece that outlines the lead-up to the current strife, including the Juha Sipilä government’s controversial competitiveness pact and Rinne’s harsh criticism of it.
 The piece then suggests that employers’ organisations are not being terribly constructive in working groups set up by the government to explore ways to increase employment, and that many informed observers believe employers’ organisations are waiting for the Rinne government to fall — and might even be willing to try and speed up that process.
 Another headache for the SDP is the performance of their Minister for State Ownership Steering,  Sirpa Paatero .
 She has given a confused account of what she knew about Posti’s plan to slash pay for 700 workers, and when she knew it.
 The state of ownership
 HS has seen the documents that referred to the plan and agrees that yes, they are unclear. But a comment piece  asks  if the minister doesn’t understand them, what is the future for the system of government oversight of the state’s many and varied holdings in Finnish companies?
 The question remains, though, of how a government led by a labour market expert (Rinne), which has said it prevented all 10,000 postal workers’ pay being reduced, could fail to understand what it was reading.
 Two further stories added to the difficult reading for social democrats:  tabloid stories  about the SDP links of theatre impressario  Veijo Baltzar’s  assistant, who is also his co-accused in  a human trafficking case .
 And finally, a poll from Helsingin Sanomat that suggests the party’s support stands at 15.2 percent — some seven percentage points behind the right-wing populist Finns Party who leads the polls.
 Black Friday business
 Iltalehti has a warning about ‘Black Friday’, the US phenomenon around Thanksgiving in which people spend one of their few public holidays shopping for discounted goods.
 It has arrived in Europe, and Iltalehti  reports  that all is not as it might seem.
 The paper spoke to a price comparison website which suggested that companies might (shock, horror) increase their prices in the run-up to Black Friday in order to ensure they have a large discount percentage on the day itself.
 Retailers might also compare the discounted price to the recommended retail price, which in practice almost nobody ever pays.
 Another trick is to allow only a small percentage of stock to go at the discounted rate, which gives a big marketing hit for a small cost.
 So whatever the deal is, be sure to do your research and read the small print before you buy.


First deputy parliamentary speaker  Tuula Haatainen  has condemned a doctored video of a parliamentary exchange between nationalist Finns Party chair  Jussi Halla-aho  and Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo .
 In the video, Halla-aho talks about "bullets flying and bombs exploding" in Sweden as a result of an open migration policy. He then asks the minister whether the security of foreigners takes precedence over that of Finns.
 The fake video suggests that Ohisalo responds by saying that the government wants to do just that -- place the security of foreigners ahead of that of Finns.
 Finns Party chair Jussi Halla-aho. Mikko Stig / Lehtikuva
 However in reality, the minister said that in a constitutional state, people should not be placed in opposition to each other. Ohisalo’s comment in the video was in response to a different issue.
 Deputy speaker: Video manipulation "reprehensible"
 The  minutes of the parliamentary session  (in Finnish) also reflect an accurate account of the exchange.
 On Saturday afternoon Haatainen took to Twitter to condemn the video, saying that she will table it for discussion among her parliamentary speaker colleagues.
 "The manipulation of content from a plenary session of parliament is extremely reprehensible, base and worrying to our democracy. I will raise the matter with [other] speakers. This phenomenon must be stopped," Haatainen wrote.
 Minister Ohisalo quoted the deputy speaker’s tweet and thanked her for addressing the issue.
 "The manipulation of photos and videos, fake quotes and the like, which undermine trust in politicians and at worst lead to threats of violence, are extremely worrying and sad from the perspective of democracy," she tweeted.


President  Sauli Niinistö  spoke on Friday to set out the thinking behind the theme of this year’s Independence Day reception.
 Last month  it emerged that the theme would be ‘knowledge and discussion ’. Niinistö said that there is now more information than ever, but that along with that glut there are also half-truths and straight lies in public discussion.
 "And if we start heading in that direction, this will become a difficult place to live for everybody," said Niinistö. "Maybe the most concerning thing is the hurtful style of discussion where people also attack individuals. It’s quite a tough spot for the victim."
 Niinistö said that everyone should defend discussion and debate in society, but also said that critical debates are important.
 On the menu at this year’s reception are organic treats, including the famous traditional punch. There are also vegan wines on offer alongside tee and a beer brewed using leftover bread.
 Secrets of the ball
 Much of the food comes from small producers in the countryside, but organisers of the number one social event of the year do not reveal their names.
 "This year we have for the first time a salmiakki pastry, for instance," said head chef  Jyrki Jääskeläinen . "The sandwich cake also has new fillings, including pike and smoked salmon."
 A capella group Club for Five will perform at the event, alongside singers  Laura Voutilainen  and  Lauri Mikkola  and the Cantores Minores Helsinki Cathedral choir.
 In all there will be some 1,700 guests at the reception to be hosted by Niinistö and the First Lady  Jenni Haukio , including 30 veterans of the Second World War. Some of those are women who served in the Lotta Svärd auxiliary organisation.


Finnish Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  will meet with his Russian counterpart  Dmitry Medvedev  in Moscow Monday.
 The agenda for the first meeting between the two prime ministers will include a discussion of bilateral relations, as well as a number of other issues including trade and the environment.
 Rinne’s delegation in the meeting will include Minister of Transport and Communications  Sanna Marin  and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry  Jari Leppä , and he therefore plans to further raise topics such as transport and forest cooperation between Finland and Russia.
 The prime ministers are also expected to discuss foreign policy issues such as military tensions in the Baltic Sea region and Russia's ongoing role in Ukraine.
 Climate change a key point
 Lauri Voionmaa , a special adviser to the prime minister, told Yle that the Finnish government's climate targets and concrete measures on how to achieve them will be presented at the summit in Moscow. The Finnish government wants to promote Russia's commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, which was finally signed by Prime Minister Medvedev in September.
 Russia joined the agreement in 2015, but its final ratification was hampered by a number of delays.
 In addition, Rinne wants to discuss the protection of the Baltic Sea with Medvedev, as the Finnish government is planning to organise an international summit of prime ministers to help alleviate the environmental problems in the area.
 Finland-Russia relations "as good as they can be"
 Although this is their first face-to-face meeting, the prime ministers have spoken to each other in the past. Medvedev called Rinne in June to congratulate him on becoming Finnish prime minister, and invited him to visit Moscow.
 In a speech to Finnish ambassadors in August, Rinne said that Finland's relations with Russia are "as good as they can be in the current environment". He then referred to the tightening security situation in Europe caused by Russia's actions in Ukraine.
 The Finnish government has previously stated the normalisation of Finnish-Russian relations depends on Russia's efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.


Although the  postal strikes and associated sympathy actions were called off on Wednesday , Finland could still see a wave of industrial action this autumn, as strikes and lockouts threaten in different industries across the economy.
 Ilta-Sanomat  suggests  that the current round of negotiations could see strikes affecting some 100,000 workers, with the  forest products industry's lockout  just the start.
 This is a symptom of particularly difficult negotiations across the labour market. Since the Confederation of Finnish Industries announced in 2017 that it would no longer co-ordinate talks across the economy on behalf of employers, unions in each sector have been left to fight their own battles.
 This time around employers and unions have a number of demands in most talks. Unions want to eliminate the 'kiky' competitiveness pact rules, which increased working hours by some 24 hours a year.
 Employers want to keep hold of that change, and according to the Pro trade union some are also proposing they stop deducting union fees directly from workers' salaries and further restrictions on strike actions.
 SDP in trouble
 All this is problematic for Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  and his Social Democratic Party. Rinne used to lead the Pro trade union, and has come under pressure from unions to intervene and from employers to stay neutral in his role as PM.
 Helsingin Sanomat  publishes  an analysis piece that outlines the lead-up to the current strife, including the  Juha Sipilä  government’s controversial competitiveness pact and Rinne's harsh criticism of it.
 The piece then suggests that employers' organisations are not being terribly constructive in working groups set up by the government to explore ways to increase employment, and that many informed observers believe employers' organisations are waiting for the Rinne government to fall — and might even be willing to try and speed up that process.
 Another headache for the SDP is the performance of their Minister for State Ownership Steering,  Sirpa Paatero .
 She has given a confused account of what she knew about Posti's plan to slash pay for 700 workers, and when she knew it.
 The state of ownership
 HS has seen the documents that referred to the plan and agrees that yes, they are unclear. But a comment piece  asks  if the minister doesn't understand them, what is the future for the system of government oversight of the state’s many and varied holdings in Finnish companies?
 The question remains, though, of how a government led by a labour market expert (Rinne), which has said it prevented all 10,000 postal workers' pay being reduced, could fail to understand what it was reading.
 Two further stories added to the difficult reading for social democrats:  tabloid stories  about the SDP links of theatre impresario  Veijo Baltzar’s  assistant, who is also his co-accused in  a human trafficking case .
 And finally, a poll from Helsingin Sanomat that suggests the party's support stands at 15.2 percent — some seven percentage points behind the right-wing populist Finns Party who leads the polls.
 Black Friday business
 Iltalehti has a warning about 'Black Friday', the US phenomenon around Thanksgiving in which people spend the day after one of their few public holidays shopping for discounted goods.
 It has arrived in Europe, and Iltalehti  reports  that all is not as it might seem.
 The paper spoke to a price comparison website which suggested that companies might (shock, horror) increase their prices in the run-up to Black Friday in order to ensure they have a large discount percentage on the day itself.
 Retailers might also compare the discounted price to the recommended retail price, which in practice almost nobody ever pays.
 Another trick is to allow only a small percentage of stock to go at the discounted rate, which gives a big marketing hit for a small cost.
 So whatever the deal is, be sure to do your research and read the small print before you buy.


As Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's centre-left government approaches its first half year in office, just one third of Finns surveyed say that it has succeeded quite well so far.
 That is according to a Kantar TNS party tracking poll published on Thursday. Just over half of respondents disagreed, saying that the government has performed poorly or quite poorly so far.
 Meanwhile the opposition scored even lower, with just one in four saying that it has performed well or quite well. On the other hand the opposition had slightly fewer detractors than the government, with 48 percent evaluating its performance as poor or quite poor.
 Kantar TNS interviewed more than 1,300 Finns aged 15-74 in the first half of November. It estimates the margin of error at 2.7 percentage points.
 In a similar poll conducted last February, a slightly higher share of respondents, 35 percent, were satisfied with the government – at that point the previous cabinet led by Centre Party chair Juha Sipilä.
 Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Rinne took over in early June after narrowly winning April's parliamentary election.
 Left Alliance backers most content
 Most content with the Rinne government were supporters of the Left Alliance, with 72 percent expressing satisfaction. The corresponding figure among backers of Rinne's own SDP was just 69 percent.
 Centre Party supporters were split with about 40 percent happy with the government so far and as many displeased. Among Greens supporters, 42 percent say they were satisfied while 33 percent were not.
 The strongest criticism of the cabinet came from backers of the largest opposition bloc, the Finns Party, with 81 percent giving it a thumbs-down. Amid backers of the other main opposition party, the conservative National Coalition, 65 percent gave it poor marks.
 Raising the employment level was considered the government's most important task, nearly one third of respondents said it should be the top priority.


Finland’s Minister for State Ownership Steering,  Sirpa Paatero , has resigned after it emerged that  she had failed to act to prevent  a state-owned company from cutting the pay of around 700 workers.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  announced her resignation at a press conference on Friday after a war of words between senior politicians and the management of Posti, the state-owned postal company.
 Rinne also accused Posti's management of giving misleading information about the plan to cut the 700 workers' pay.
 He announced that Paatero would take sick leave until 13 December. The government was yet to announce her successor in the challenging state ownership portfolio.
 Outsourcing contradictions
 On Thursday SDP leader Rinne had stated in parliament that his party colleague Sirpa Paatero had opposed plans to cut the pay of some 700 workers.
 "The Posti board proposed that Paatero accept decisions to move 8,100 people to another company on 1 November, and that 700 parcel sorters be moved to a different collective agreement on 1 November," said Rinne during parliament’s weekly question time.
 "Minister Paatero made it clear that this was not acceptable to the owner. After that discussion Posti changed the situation and 700 people were transferred. That was against the owner’s clearly-expressed wishes."
 On Friday, the chair of the Posti board Markku Puhjola released a statement denying that Posti had concealed its plans.
 "As has been public knowledge, Posti informed the minister of our outsourcing plans during the preparation stage," said Pohjola.
 "If the owner had a different opinion and had made that known, we would have absolutely reacted to that, even though this is a matter to be decided by the company’s board."
 Different agreements
 PAU leader  Heidi Nieminen  had also told Yle she had tried to inform Paatero and the state ownership steering unit, speaking to officials or advisers in the minister’s circle. Paatero said that she had not received or heard about those calls.
 The postal strikes that came close to paralysing Finland this year were sparked by the state-owned postal firm Posti’s decision to reduce the pay of those 700 parcel sorting office workers.
 They did this by transferring them to a different collective agreement than the one covering most Posti staff, and the move threatened to collapse the entire wage-bargaining round.
 Union PAU refused to agree a deal for the company’s 10,000 workers until the fate of those 700 parcel sorters was resolved.
 In the end the dispute became political when Rinne and Paatero made conflicting statements on when they heard about Posti’s plans and how fiercely they were opposed.
 The issue is especially sensitive for the union-backed social democrats in general and Rinne in particular, as he was a trade union leader before he won the leadership of the SDP.
 The dispute was  eventually settled  when Posti agreed to allow the 700 workers to retain their current pay package.


President  Sauli Niinistö  spoke on Friday to set out the thinking behind the theme of this year’s Independence Day reception.
 Last month  it emerged that the theme would be ‘knowledge and discussion ’. Niinistö said that there is now more information than ever, but that along with that glut there are also half-truths and straight lies in public discussion.
 "And if we start heading in that direction, this will become a difficult place to live for everybody," said Niinistö. "Maybe the most concerning thing is the hurtful style of discussion where people also attack individuals. It’s quite a tough spot for the victim."
 Niinistö said that everyone should defend discussion and debate in society, but also said that critical debates are important.
 On the menu at this year’s reception are organic treats, including the famous traditional punch. There are also vegan wines on offer alongside tee and a beer brewed using leftover bread.
 Secrets of the ball
 Much of the food comes from small producers in the countryside, but organisers of the number one social event of the year do not reveal their names.
 "This year we have for the first time a  salmiakki  (salt liquorice) pastry, for instance," said head chef  Jyrki Jääskeläinen . "The sandwich cake also has new fillings, including pike and smoked salmon."
 A cappella group Club for Five will perform at the event, alongside singers  Laura Voutilainen  and  Lauri Mikkola  and the Cantores Minores Helsinki Cathedral choir.
 There will be some 1,700 guests at the reception to be hosted by Niinistö and First Lady  Jenni Haukio , including 30 veterans of the Second World War. Some of those are women who served in the Lotta Svärd auxiliary organisation.


The leaders of the five government parties are to meet on Sunday evening to discuss the fallout from the Posti labour dispute ahead of a parliamentary challenge in the next few days.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  of the Social Democratic Party has invited the other four party chairs to meet at an undisclosed location at 8.30pm.
 They are to go over the events in the dispute, which has dominated domestic politics this autumn. The crisis has led to the resignation of the minister in charge of overseeing state-owned firms, and even to calls for the resignation of Rinne, a former labour boss.
 On Friday, three of the opposition groups in Parliament filed an interpellation over the government's handling of the Posti dispute. Opposition MPs are expected to grill cabinet ministers over the issue on Tuesday before the government faces a vote of confidence on Wednesday.
 The conservative National Coalition Party, the Christian Democrats and the Movement Now (Liike Nyt) filed the challenge. The largest opposition group, the Finns Party, has criticised the government harshly over the matter but did not co-sign the interpellation.
 Centre and Greens sought clarification
 On Saturday, Minister of Economic Affairs  Katri Kulmuni  called for the cabinet partners to meet as soon as possible to discuss future policy on labour disputes, with more looming in the coming weeks.
 Greens chair and Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  has also sought further clarification from Rinne.
 There are also two smaller parties in the centre-left coalition, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party. They are led by Education Minister  Li Andersson  and Justice Minister  Anna-Maja Henriksson  respectively.
 The government is just under six months into a planned four-year legislative term.
 On Friday, veteran SDP politician  Sirpa Paatero  stepped down as Minister of Local Government and Ownership Steering after it emerged that she had misled Parliament about her role in the Posti labour dispute. Her replacement has not yet been named.
 The company's plan to shift some 700 employees to a lower-paying contract led to a 17-day strike, which ended on Wednesday as sympathy strikes were set to expand.


The leaders of Finland's five government parties met on Sunday evening to discuss the fallout from the Posti labour dispute ahead of an opposition no-confidence vote later this week.
 According to the nation's largest circulation daily,  Helsingin Sanomat , the gathering of party leaders decide that Social Democrat PM  Antti Rinne  will continue to lead the government "at least for the time being".
 In a tersely worded press release late Sunday, the government simply stated that party leaders discussed "the political situation" and that the cabinet is preparing to respond to the opposition's interpellation - the first step in a non-confidence vote - on Tuesday.
 According to Helsingin Sanomat, information leaked from Sunday's meeting indicated that the situation within the cabinet is not entirely clear.
 The cabinet will, however, writes HS, have to present a common front before Tuesday.
 Rovaniemi's  Lapin Kansa  reports on three speaking engagements Prime Minister Rinne had in Lapland on Sunday where he conceded that he is under a lot of pressure.
 He declined to say directly if it is possible that the government will collapse. He did say that while the situation has been exaggerated by the media, "anything is always possible".
 Tensions in the foreign ministry
 The newsstand tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat  reports that Finland's foreign minister,  Pekka Haavisto , ousted his ministry's director of consular services,  Pasi Tuominen , after he tried and failed to pressure him into short circuiting procedure and repatriating the  children of ISIS fighters  from Syria without a political mandate.
 According to the Ilta-Sanomat report, Haavisto also bumped heads with Tuominen who has been relieved of his duties, over visa regulations for Russian citizens.
 Ilta-Sanomat says it has information that a plan was formulated at the Foreign Ministry to repatriate the children of Finnish ISIS members being held at the al-Hol refugee camp.
 The plan was they would come to Finland without their mothers. According to the paper, Foreign Minister Haavisto attempted to convince Tuominen to carry out the plan in his own name and on his own authority.
 Tuominen reportedly replied that as a responsible civil servant, he could not carry out an operation that would violate Finnish law and international agreements.
 In addition, Ilta-Sanomat reports that Haavisto was displeased by changes in tighter visa regulations for Russian citizens introduced this past autumn. Up until this autumn, Finland had a more streamlined visa application process for Russians than in the rest of the Schengen zone.
 The paper describes the atmosphere within the ministry as tense, with growing dissatisfaction with Haavisto who insiders see as bossy and quick to anger.
 Foreign Minister Haavisto declined to answer questions on the details of the Ilta-Sanomat report.
 Chinese language boom
 The  HS Metro  freesheet reports that Chinese is becoming an increasingly popular choice in Finnish schools, enjoying what it says is something of a boom in both elementary and secondary schools.
 Chinese is available to pupils in several elementary schools in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku and Tampere, even as a long-course, or so-called A1 language.
 In addition, close to 20 upper secondary schools offer Chinese language courses.
 The National Agency for Education is  funding a project aimed at increasing Chinese course offerings  nationwide and making it a standard option in school curricula.
 There are challenges in meeting the growing interest in studying this language. One is a lack of qualified teachers. The other is a lack of teaching materials specifically designed for Finnish schoolchildren.
 Holiday taxi rides
 The economic and business daily  Kauppalehti  passes on some advice about using taxis during the holiday season.
 The paper warns that with Independence Day coming up and Christmas parties in full swing, there are likely to be more independent taxi drivers behind the wheel, some of whom will be looking to take advantage of peak demand by charging exorbitant fares.
 Cabonline CEO Kati Rajala, whose company operates taxis under the Kovanen and FixuTaksi brands, advises anyone planning to party and take a taxi to either download an app, or to save the number of a trusted taxi service on their phones.
 By law, anyone using a taxi must be informed before setting off if the ride will cost more than 100 euros.
 Legislation regulating the taxi business  that came into force in 2018 has come in for heavy criticism, and revisions are being considered.
 One idea that is being examined is a requirement for cars to carry some sign that they are licensed for use as taxis. In Sweden, for example, all registered taxis can be identified by the colour of their registry plates. Another possible change may be a requirement that taxi permits be issued only to people with a  commercial tax ID number .


Finland's International Gender Equality Prize has been awarded to the global non-profit organisation Equality Now as a recognition of its work in tackling gender inequality and changing discriminatory laws around the world.
 The organisation will also receive 300,000 euros from the Finnish government.
 Yasmeen Hassan , Global Executive Director of Equality Now, collected the award on behalf of the organisation at a ceremony in Tampere on Monday afternoon, and thanked the Finnish Government for recognising the importance of gender equality by creating the prize.
 "Of course we are excited. Women's organisations are small all over the world and often lack the resources. That is why getting such recognition is fantastic," Hassan said.
 Equality Now was established in New York in 1992 with the aim of protecting and promoting the rights of women and girls around the world. Currently, the organisation is particularly active in Kenya, where it is trying to reduce child marriages, sexual abuse of women and female genital mutilation. According to Hassan, much work remains to be done.
 "Equality for women and girls is the solution to some of the biggest challenges the world is facing today – peace and security, poverty eradication and climate change," Hassan said. "In addition to being the right and just thing to do, it is also the smartest investment for humanity."
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  had originally been due to hand over the prize, but he was unable to attend. His place was taken by Finland's Minister for Gender Equality  Thomas Blomqvist .
 According to the organisation's  website , Equality Now is a non-governmental organisation that aims "to increase awareness of the violations to women's rights that happen every day around the world".
 300 submissions from around the world
 During the open nomination period, over 300 proposals from more than 60 countries were submitted for consideration for the award, and the final decision was based on the recommendation of an independent international jury.
 The jury included  Pekka Haavisto , Finland's current Minister for Foreign Affairs,  Eva Biaudet , President of the National Council of Women of Finland,  Katja Iversen , President and CEO of Women Deliver,  Anneli Jäätteenmäki , a former Member of the European Parliament, and  Dean Peacock , Senior Advisor for Global Advocacy at Promundo.
 Haavisto, who chaired the jury, said Equality Now's effectiveness in changing laws and harmful practices around the world was the key to it receiving the award.
 "The main obstacles for progress in global gender equality are negative attitudes and structures," Haavisto said. "Discriminatory laws and practices still exist in all countries of the world."
 In 2017, the International Gender Equality Prize  was awarded to German Chancellor   Angela Merkel .Sherequested that the 150,000-euro prize money be allocated to an anti-domestic violence organisation in Nigeria, which is using the funds to build a shelter for women.


Centre Party MPs have signaled that they were not impressed by explanations offered by Prime Minister  Antti Rinne , following questions over the government’s handling of a labour market dispute involving postal workers and state-owned mail carrier Posti.
 Centre Party chair  Katri Kulmuni  said on Monday afternoon that while the coalition partner is committed to the current government coalition led by Rinne’s Social Democratic Party, there remains a crisis of confidence in the PM.
 "We have no confidence in the individual [Rinne]. We want the government to be functional and for it to be able to handle national issues," Kulmuni told reporters.
 When pressed whether or not this meant that the Centre no longer had confidence in Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Kulmuni responded simply, "We have no confidence."
 The party leader said that the party leadership would meet on Monday evening to consider the matter. Kulmuni stressed that the Centre is still committed to the government’s composition and programme.
 Her colleague  Antti Kurvinen , chair of the Centre’s parliamentary group told reporters that Rinne’s account of the government’s actions in the labour market dispute were found wanting.
 "The explanations given yesterday were not adequate," Kurvinen declared.
 Questions over what govt knew -- and when
 Party  meetings began on Sunday  and spilled over into Monday as government partners met to discuss the fallout between an apparent standoff between the lead government partner, the Social Democratic Party, and senior Posti leadership over the fate of 700 parcel sorting workers who had previously been transferred to lower-paid employment contracts.
 PAU, the union representing postal and logistical workers, had embarked on a 17-day strike over the treatment of the 700 workers as well as over a new collective bargaining agreement. The industrial action ended last Wednesday when  both sides reached a settlement .
 The apparent crisis of confidence over the prime minister’s leadership turned on what the government knew about the plan and when. The government -- and Rinne -- stressed that it had not been told in advance of the new contract arrangements for the affected workers.
 Posti board chairman  Markku Pohjola  was equally adamant that the minister responsible for state enterprise ownership and steering,  Sirpa Paatero , was in the know. Paatero  eventually resigned on Friday  over her role in managing the dispute.
 Backing from Greens, SPP holds steady
 On Monday, the Swedish People’s Party met and decided that Rinne should be given a second chance, according to party chair and Justice Minister  Anna-Maja Henriksson . "We need stability now. None of us is perfect. In this situation the SPP supports Prime Minister Rinne, but I hope that there will be further discussion within the government," Henriksson said.
 The minister noted that the government should no longer intervene in labour market disputes.
 "Our view is that the Posti matter was not managed as well we would have hoped. There have been communication problems and it should be more accurate," she added.
 Coalition partners had previously called on Rinne to give a detailed account of the circumstances leading up to the current situation, especially the Posti drama. On Monday morning, the PM told news agency STT that he had no comment to offer on the situation at that time.
 On Tuesday the government will answer an interpellation on the matter tabled by opposition parties the National Coalition Party, the Christian Democrats and Movement Now. The interpellation will be followed by a confidence vote in the government on Wednesday.
 Meanwhile the Chancellor of Justice has reportedly received several complaints about the PM’s conduct during the postal workers’ dispute.


Social Democratic Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  told the newspaper  Helsingin Sanomat  late Monday night that he wants to see a written statement from the Centre Party on Tuesday, laying out the reasons it  no longer has confidence in him  to lead the five-party coalition government.
 "Only then, when I have received a detailed written answer from the Centre, will I be able to determine what I will do," Rinne said in a telephone interview.
 The Centre Party's parliamentary group and party leadership on Monday announced they had lost confidence in the PM. In his interview with Helsingin Sanomat, Rinne slammed the Centre for being too vague about its intentions.
 "If I am accused of poor communication, it has to be said that the Centre has at very least set a new national record for a lack of clarity in this matter. I demand an unequivocal yes or no about whether or not we continue together, not just as political parties, but also as individuals."
 Rinne declined to discuss whether or not he and his Social Democratic Party still trust the Centre and its chair  Katri Kulmuni , simply stating that up until now the SDP has had no complaints about its coalition partners.
 Asked if he will turn in his resignation on Tuesday, if the Centre presents clear and detailed reasons for a lack of confidence in him, Rinne gave no definitive answer.
 "As I said, there must be concrete and unequivocal reasons why they feel they have no confidence in the prime minister."
 "Resign or government falls"
 The newsstand tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat  was among the papers reporting that there is building pressure within the Centre Party to oust Rinne from the premiership.
 Centre Party leader Kulmuni on Monday evening did not call for Rinne's resignation, but did say that Centre Party members were not "completely convinced" by Rinne's explanation of events surrounding the recent Posti labour dispute, and that the Social Democratic Party should draw its own conclusions now.
 Ilta-Sanomat presented statements from three Centre Party MPs who were more straightforward on the condition of anonymity.
 The verdict of all three was that the prime minister should resign before a scheduled debate in parliament at 2pm this afternoon.
 "There has been an attempt to be considerate. It is quite clear that there is no going back now - either Rinne resigns, or Rinne fights and the government falls," said one MP.
 Another of the centre MPs interviewed stated that there was no desire to "publically butcher" the prime minister.
 "It has been attempted to get the message across both privately and publicly. His reaction shows something about his capacity to read the situation."
 The third told Ilta-Sanomat that the Centre Party strongly believes in the composition of the current coalition government and in its programme, but that it has ”the wrong skipper”.
 Haavisto denies repatriation plan
 Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto , a member of Finland’s Green League, has denied a Monday  report in the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat  claiming that he ousted a top ministry civil servant from his post for refusing to take part in a plan to repatriate children of Finnish ISIS fighters being held in the al-Hol camp in Syria.
 Turku's  Turun Sanomat  reports that later on Monday parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee asked for an explanation about the claim and Christian Democrat MP Sari Essayah filed a formal written question to be answered by the government.
 Haavisto not only denied that he had pressured the ministry official, he told the media that no such plan ever existed.
 "The mysterious plan in the news is a mystery to me, too. I was not involved in preparing such a plan, nor am I aware that ministry officials would have prepared such a plan," stated Haavisto.
 He added that the idea itself seems strange considering that the Kurdish administration in the area does not allow families to be split up and does not allow children to travel alone.
 Commenting on the claim that he had lost his temper with the head of the ministry's consular section over the matter, Haavisto said simply, "I'm not the short-tempered type."
 Yes to Roma, no to Pride
 Lapin Kansa  reports that the city council of Rovaniemi voted on Monday to start the practice of flying the flag of the Roma people on city buildings on International Romani Day, April 8th.
 At the same meeting a motion that would have also seen the rainbow flag of the sexual minorities' movement on city buildings on national Pride Day and Arctic Pride Day was narrowly defeated. In Lapin Kansa's words, "the rainbow flags will stay in the closet".
 Late last month, the LGBT rights organisation SETA announced that the Arctic Pride event that has been held annually in Rovaniemi since 2013 will not take place next year. The local SETA chapter said that it has been unable to recruit enough volunteers to organize the event in 2020, but hopes it will be possible again the following year.
 Heat wave coming
 Iltalehti 's definition of "heat wave" may not be everyone's, but the paper was excited enough about a forecast of rising temperatures this week to throw an exclamation mark into its headline.
 Temperatures on Thursday and Friday this week are likely to be well above freezing again, even in Finnish Lapland.
 The paper quotes Foreca meteorologist  Ilkka Alanko  as saying that on Friday, Independence Day, temperatures along the south coast will be 5C-6C and in central regions 2C-4C.
 This warmer weather, combined with rain, will mean that at least in the south of Finland the present snow cover will melt away.
 For those hankering after a white Christmas, the good news is that the "heat wave" will be short-lived. Temperatures will fall after the weekend and Finland, including southern areas, may get its snow back well before the holidays.


The latest opinion poll indicates sinking confidence in both of the main parties in the centre-left coalition.
 The results suggest that public confidence in Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's Social Democratic Party (SDP) was dropping quickly even before  the latest turns and revelations  surrounding the labour dispute at the state-owned postal firm.
 Meanwhile, a change in leadership at the second-largest government partner, the Centre Party, has not improved its image or popularity. In September,  Katri Kulmuni  took over as Centre chair from the previous prime minister,  Juha Sipilä . She also holds the posts of Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister.
 Halla-aho's populists leap to top of the chart
 The Kantar TNS tracking poll was carried out in the first half of November, while the Posti strike was underway. The parties received the results last week, but Yle and other media did not obtain it until Monday.
 It shows the SDP dropping to fourth place in terms of image. It was in first place before last spring's parliamentary election, which it won by a narrow margin.
 Now it has been surpassed by the nationalist Finns Party, government partners the Greens and the other main opposition group, the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP).
 The Finns Party, led by immigration hardliner  Jussi Halla-aho , leapt from fifth place to the top of the chart, for the first time since 2010.
 The Centre meanwhile slid to the bottom of the list, with the Greens the only government party to see an improvement in its public image. They remain in second place, as they were last spring.


Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  has resigned in the face of a parliamentary challenge that was to have begun on Tuesday afternoon.
 Rinne said at noon on Tuesday that he would tender his resignation to President  Sauli Niinistö , two hours before MPs were to begin debating an interpellation filed by opposition parties.
 Just over half an hour later, Niinistö accepted Rinne's resignation at the presidential residence, Mäntyniemi.
 That meant that Rinne's cabinet had formally resigned and would continue on as a caretaker government.
 Current coalition likely to continue
 On Tuesday afternoon Speaker of Parliament  Matti Vanhanen , a former Centre Party prime minister, urged "the old government coalition to carry matters forward."
 The current five-party government looks likely to carry on after a cabinet reshuffle.
 The SDP's main coalition partner, the Centre, which triggered the crisis by expressing doubt in Rinne, is unlikely to want new elections. The nationalist Finns Party, the second-largest group in Parliament, has seen  rising popularity .
 However its chair,  Jussi Halla-aho , said on Tuesday afternoon that he did "not see re-thinking the makeup of the government as the primary alternative".
 The political upheaval comes as Finland wraps up its six-month  presidency of the European Council . A two-day EU summit begins in Brussels on Thursday next week.
 Rapid sequence of events
 Rinne's five-party centre-left coalition took office just under six months ago after his Social Democratic Party (SDP) won April's parliamentary election  by a whisker .
 Events have proceeded quickly since the SDP minister in charge of overseeing state-owned firms,  Sirpa Paatero ,  resigned on Friday .
 That came amid revelations that she knew in advance of the postal company's plans to shift some workers to a lower-paying contract, and misled MPs about it. Since then, there have been indications that former union boss Rinne, too, knew of the plan and tacitly approved it in August, before a  protracted postal strike  this autumn.
 Late Sunday evening, the five government party chairs held a crisis meeting. On Monday, the Centre expressed a lack of confidence in Rinne in a vaguely-worded statement. On Monday evening, Rinne declined to step down, instead demanding further clarification from the Centre.
 All eyes on Sanna Marin
 According to Yle sources, Rinne decided to wait for the Centre to directly call for his resignation. The tabloid Iltalehti reported that he and the SDP demanded that Centre chair  Katri Kulmuni  provide details in writing as to why the premier should be replaced.
 Story continues after photo
 Minister of Transport and Communications Sanna Marin Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva
 Rinne and Kulmuni met in the late morning at the Council of State building.
 Meanwhile SDP deputy chair  Sanna Marin , who led the party during Rinne's  extended sick leave  last winter, rushed back from a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
 Speaking to reporters on arrival at Helsinki Airport around 11.30am, Marin said she would "not shirk her responsibility in this difficult situation."
 Iltalehti says Marin is to lead attempts to form a new government. Marin, 34, a second-term MP from Tampere, has been Minister of Transport and Communications  since June .
 If she takes over, she would be the youngest prime minister in Finnish history. The Centre's'  Esko Aho  was 36 when he took office in 1991.
 The leader of the SDP's parliamentary group,  Antti Lindtman , 37, also said he would be ready to become prime minister.
 Asked at his post-resignation press conference about the name of a probable successor, Rinne declined to speculate, saying only that "We have many people who are competent to do the prime minister's job.”
 He also announced that he plans to continue as SDP chair and to seek reelection to the post at next summer's party congress.


A majority of MPs on parliament’s foreign affairs committee have voted to clear foreign minister  Pekka Haavisto  of alleged wrongdoing in a plan to repatriate  Finnish nationals currently at a refugee camp in Syria .
 On Tuesday morning Haavisto appeared before the committee to explain his ministry’s actions with respect to Finns living at the al-Hol refugee camp. On Monday, the minister revealed that the ministry had been looking at different options for repatriating the wives and children of fighters for the extremist group Isis.
 Haavisto refuted  allegations reported by the tabloid daily Ilta-Sanomat  that he had sidelined consular head  Pasi Tuominen  from the repatriation project. He said that Tuominen will continue in his role, but noted that he had assigned a separate official to handle the al-Hol case.
 Committee chair: MPs kept in the dark
 After Haavisto delivered his account of events, the committee voted on whether or not to accept the minister’s explanation -- a majority accepted his version of events.
 Chair of the foreign affairs committee,  Mika Niikko  said that the Finns Party held the view that the committee had not been given timely information about the ministry’s efforts to repatriate the Finnish women and children to Finland.
 Niikko said that the last time the committee had been briefed on the matter, there was no mention that another civil servant had been assigned to the project. He added that the committee had the impression that people would receive support if they independently sought consular assistance.
 The committee chair charged that MPs had been kept in the dark, even as the president and the government had been informed about the project.
 Haavisto said that the repatriation project was not a government initiative, but that it originated from official duty as well as a response from the Chancellor of Justice to complaints made about the issue in October.


Tuesday’s big news was  the departure of Prime Minister  Antti Rinne .
 His hand was eventually forced over his failure to adequately explain how and why he and his SDP colleague and Minister for State Ownership Steering  Sirpa Paatero  had handled  a plan to lower pay for 700 postal workers .
 The ex-union boss was premier for six months, first  establishing and then leading a coalition of five parties  but it was one of those parties — the Centre — that eventually did for him.
 What’s ‘Appening
 Iltalehti has a  detailed story  based on a groupchat of Centre Party MPs suggesting that Rinne’s fate was sealed on Friday evening after Posti published a statement suggesting the government had been informed about their pay reduction plan.
 By that point, Paatero had already  resigned as the minister who had been in charge of managing contacts with Posti .
 IL reports that Paatero’s scalp wasn’t enough for Centre MPs from ‘revivalist movement and business’ backgrounds, referencing the twin pillars of Centre support among rural entrepreneurs and Laestadian Lutheran groups.
 Business leaders in the Centre Party have been uncomfortable, according to IL, with a PM who had such a strong trade union background.
 Revenge in mind
 Messages seen by the paper include one from ex-PM  Juha Sipilä , sent on Friday in response to other MPs saying their party faithful out in the provinces were unhappy with Rinne.
 "Yep, that’s all I’ve heard too. Are we having a parliamentary group meeting before the confidence vote debate?"
 Other MPs chimed in and even those cautious about getting rid of the premier were suggesting that more explanations were needed if the party was to lend Rinne its support this week.
 Publicity-hungry Lapland MP  Mikko Kärnä  chimed in to suggest supporting SDP MP  Antti Lindtman  as an alternative, as revenge for the 2003 machinations when the SDP had lost confidence in and sought the resignation of Centre PM  Anneli Jäätteenmäki .
 "Give the job to Lindtman. Remember [the] Jäätteenmäki [affair]," said Kärnä.
 In terms of entertainment, IL clearly beat tabloid rival Ilta-Sanomat which  published the historic but rather dry email  in which Centre group chair  Antti Kurvainen  officially told Rinne that the Centre Party did not have confidence in his leadership.
 The email was sent on Tuesday at 10:29, shortly before Rinne said his goodbyes to the SDP parliamentary group and went to see the president to submit his resignation.
 SDP direction change?
 HS  looks at  the new premier, who is likely to be appointed next week. The two candidates are Antti Lindtman, the 37-year-old Uusimaa MP who heads up the SDP’s parliamentary caucus, and  Sanna Marin , the Transport Minister from Tampere who at 34 would be Finland’s youngest-ever Prime Minister.
 The two options represent clearly divergent paths, according to HS reporter  Marko Junkkari . He characterises Marin as an idealist and Lindtman as an realist, outlining the difference in approach as follows:
 "In Marin’s opinion it would be good if the SDP’s election programme included a ban on internal combustion engines. Lindtman might be of the same opinion but he certainly wouldn’t write it in the election manifesto."
 Marin has the support of Rinne, with whom Lindtman’s relations have been 'cool', according to HS. whether Rinne’s support is an advantage or disadvantage remains to be seen, as the party meets next week.
 Lindtman's ability to work with parties to the right of the SDP would be greater than Marin's according to Junkkari. Under Marin, therefore, there would be a greater chance of a red-green 'block' developing in Finland, in which left-of-centre parties work together and broader coalitions rare, as is the case in Sweden.


The Finnish political scene is in turmoil after Prime Minister  Antti Rinne   stepped down after just six months  on the job, so in a special edition of All Points North we asked Yle political journalist  Katri Makkonen  what just happened and what might come next.
 There is now a two-horse race to succeed Rinne as the next SDP Prime Minister, with the party board due to meet on Sunday.
 "It's a long time until Sunday and anything can happen," Makkonen said.
 The two main contenders for the position are current Transport and Communications Minister,  Sanna Marin , and chair of the SDP parliamentary group,  Antti Lindtman . Rinne left office under a cloud after the SDP's coalition partner  the Centre Party said it had no confidence in him  after questions arose about his role in a labour market dispute.
 Unanswered questions
 According to Makkonen, Rinne isn't the only one who hasn't explained himself adequately. The Centre Party have also left open questions about exactly why they declared a loss of confidence in the PM. Makkonen drew a parallel to two years ago when the Centre's  Juha Sipilä -led government  splintered and reformulated itself  in a way that many saw as undemocratic.
 "One could say that this somehow was not very democratic either, to throw out a prime minister without stating very clear reasons why this had to happen. They just said that there is no more confidence towards him [Rinne] but have yet to explain themselves better," Makkonen pointed out.
 The veteran journalist noted that the APN audience are not the only ones still scratching their head over the current political drama -- Finns are also perplexed by the ongoing theatre.
 "Even Finnish people don't know what's going on. It's very hard to try to answer these questions as we don't really know yet what happened with the Posti thing," she said
 "We don't really yet know why the Centre Party decided this thing. We don't really yet know if it will be good for them or for the Social Democrats. We don't know who will will or who will lose," Makkonen concluded.
 Join the conversation
 If you have any questions or comments or would like to participate in the discussion, contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi. You can also give us your feedback on our English language news services via our  survey .
 The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via  iTunes  (and leave a review!), listen  on Spotify  and  Yle Areena  or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our  RSS feed .
 This week's show was presented by  Egan Richardson  and  Denise Wall ,and the sound engineer was  Tuomas Vauhkonen .


"Marin leads with ministerial experience," is the leader headline in main daily Helsingin Sanomat (HS) , which goes on in its editorial to outline the reasons that  Sanna Marin , 34, will likely become Finland’s next prime minister. This follows in the wake of former PM  Antti Rinne ’s dramatic resignation on Tuesday following the fallout from the postal workers' recent industrial action.
 "Marin is the favourite as the next SDP prime ministerial candidate," writes HS, citing its own poll carried out on Tuesday evening. "Thirty percent of respondents supported Minister of Transport and Communications Marin, while MP and Social Democratic Parliamentary group chair  Antti Lindtman  received only 12 percent support."
 HS writes that Marin is former PM Rinne’s choice of the two potential candidates. Marin also has previous party chair experience, as she took over for Rinne when he was on sick leave last winter.
 HS goes onto say that while Lindtman is only 37, voters may feel that he’s long been in politics although in reality this is only his third term as an MP. A schism arose between Rinne and Lindtman during the 2017 SDP party political conference, when there were suggestions that Lindtman would challenge Rinne’s position as chair, but that didn’t happen.
 Furthermore, writes HS, last spring Rinne offered Lindtman the Labour Minister portfolio, which Lindtman turned down. This is an issue that will no doubt arise in the contest for the prime ministerial role.
 HS concludes in its editorial that the competition is down to the fine line between an experienced minister and an ungrateful political portfolio rejector.
 He shoots, he scores
 The  Iltalehti tabloid's sports pages lead with a story about Finnish Chicago Bulls basketball player Lauri Markkanen ,who scored 15 points and five rebounds on Wednesday night in an NBA tournament game against the Memphis Grizzlies, with a final winning score for the Bulls of 106-99.
 “Now this feels good!” said Markkanen in an interview with American TV network NBC News.
 This is the first time this season that the Chicago team is on a winning streak, having won two games in a row.
 Slippery weather in store
 Ilta-Sanomat (IS), the sister tabloid of HS, warns readers that sidewalks throughout the country are very slippery this morning as the Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued a warning about poor pedestrian conditions  throughout Finland with the exception of Lapland.
 Freezing temperatures overnight have turned water-covered icy patches into slick skating rinks.
 Correction: This story was amended to reflect that Sanna Marin has party chair experience (not prime ministerial experience), as she took over for Rinne when he was on sick leave last winter.


The rising popularity of the Finns Party shows no signs of slackening. The largest opposition party has extended its lead over its closest rival to 5.7 percentage points. In second is the other main opposition group, the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP).
 The Yle/Taloustutkimus tracking poll suggests that 24.3 percent of voters would back the Finns Party if an election were held now. This is the strongest support level in the nearly quarter of a century since the party was founded.
 Its previous peak of popularity was in 2011, when it had 23 percent support under former chair and co-founder  Timo Soini . Since mid-2017, the party has been led by immigration hardliner  Jussi Halla-aho .
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 Opposition leaders Jussi Halla-aho (Finns Party) and  Petteri Orpo (NCP).
 Tuomo Turja , research director at pollster Taloustutkimus, tells Yle that the party is gathering support from both the politically disaffected and previous supporters of the government parties.
 "The Finns Party is gaining supporters from the Centre, the SDP and those who have been previously undecided, in other words, people who aren't very engaged with politics," Turja says.
 On Tuesday, the final day covered by this poll, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP),  Antti Rinne , stepped down as prime minister. After less than six months in office, his five-party centre-left coalition became a caretaker government pending the naming of a new prime minister and talks on re-forming the coalition.
 NCP begins to recover
 The NCP also seems to be benefiting from being in opposition. The pro-business, pro-Nato group's popularity has edged up to 18.6 percent since last spring's parliamentary election, when it scored 17 percent support.
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 Centre chair Katri Kulmuni Mikko Stig / Lehtikuva
 The SDP sees its backing decline to 13.2 percent, compared to 17.7 percent in the election.
 Suffering the worst losses among the government partners is the Centre, which led the previous government. Despite choosing a new leader in the early autumn, the party sees its support slump by 2.3 percentage points to 10.6 percent. That's the lowest ever in its 113-year history.
 "The biggest beneficiary has been the Finns Party, but the Centre is also increasingly leaking support to the NCP. There is also a significant bloc of previous Centre voters who have now increasingly withdrawn to the sidelines," observes Turja.
 Government parties support at 50%
 The five government parties had the combined support of half of respondents. The most popular of them at the moment appears to be the Greens at 13.9 percent, dipping slightly in recent months.
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 Left Alliance chair Li Andersson Akseli Muraja / Lehtikuva
 Of the government parties, only the Left Alliance saw a rise in popularity last month, nudging up half a percentage point to 8.4 percent.
 There were no significant changes in support for the small parties, which all scored below four percent.
 Between 11 November and 3 December, Taloustutkimus interviewed nearly 3,000 people, of whom just over 2,000 expressed a party preference. It estimates the margin of error at 1.8 percentage points.


Finland's new five-party coalition government, headed by SDP Prime Minister  Sanna Marin , hit its first serious bump on Wednesday when opposition parties in parliament filed a motion leading to a vote of no-confidence over  the repatriation of Finnish citizens currently in the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria .
 The motion, initiated by the Finns Party, gained the backing of the Christian Democrats late Tuesday and of the National Coalition Party (NCP) on Wednesday morning. It is also being supported by the sole MP of the Movement Now (Liike nyt) group.
 At a press conference Wednesday morning, opposition Finns Party chair  Jussi Halla-aho  questioned whether Finland has an obligation to aid the women and children of Isis fighters. He did concede, however, that Finnish citizens always have the right to return to the country.
 "This is a question of the adult women. They are a concrete security risk to Finland. Once back in Finland they could continue their terrorist activities," Halla-aho stated.
 Halla-aho added that he wants to know if Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  has supplied accurate information on the issue.
 "Recently we've seen a disconcerting cat and mouse game. In terms of parliamentary oversight, the situation has been unbearable," said Halla-aho. "Are Isis families being brought to Finland? Have parliament and the media been misled?"
 Backing from NCP
 The second main opposition party, the NCP decided Wednesday to back a vote of no-confidence in the government. Its parliamentary group leader, MP  Kai Mykkänen  challenged the new prime minister, Sanna Marin, to shoulder responsibility.
 "You cannot avoid responsibility. Hopefully the government understands now that this is a serious matter," said Mykkänen.
 "There is now great uncertainty whether or not the government has made a political decision and issued a mandate to repatriate Finnish citizens who took part in the operations of the Isis caliphate," Kai Mykkänen stated in parliament.
 The leader of the Christian Democratic Party's parliamentary group,  Päivi Räsänen , echoed a Finnish Security Intelligence Service evaluation that the women in the al-Hol camp would be a security risk. Räsänen did say she would be ready to help the children, though.
 "However, a clear political decision must be made, without hiding being the backs of civil servants," Räsänen continued.
 The NCP's Mykkänen was also in favour of aiding the children, if a way can be found to do so without compromising security.
 According to Mykkänen the government's statements on the issue have been evasive and those by Foreign Minister Haavisto have been contradictory.
 The NCP's position is that a political decision by the government is required if Finnish citizens in the al-Hol camp are to be actively assisted in returning to the country.
 "If this does not conform to the normal operations based on the law on consular services, but rather on exceptional action, then of course the government must make a political decision. It is extremely corny that apparently an effort has been made to pressure a foreign ministry official to act illegally, without the government's mandate," said Mykkänen.


The board of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has proposed that party chair and caretaker Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  lead negotiations on forming a new government – a cabinet that would be led by someone else. The party's parliamentary group is to decide on the issue on Thursday afternoon.
 The opposition, particularly the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP) has criticised the choice of Rinne to assemble a new cabinet, as he was ousted from the premiership earlier this week.
 That came after the second-largest government partner, the Centre, expressed a vaguely-worded lack of confidence in him. Rinne  resigned as PM  on Tuesday but said he intended to carry on as party chair and MP.
 "In historical terms, it's in no way exceptional that a departing prime minister, the speaker of Parliament or another corresponding person would lead talks on forming a new government," SDP party secretary  Antton Rönnholm  told Yle.
 Rönnholm said the Centre Party has in no way sought to influence the choice of who will try to form a government. He said he expects the Centre to work to build trust between the government parties.
 PM candidate to be chosen on Sunday
 On Thursday, the SDP board also decided that the larger party council will choose a prime ministerial candidate on Sunday evening.
 So far two politicians have said they would be interested in the post: Minister of Transport and Communications  Sanna Marin , who is the deputy party chair and a  former acting party chair , and  Antti Lindtman , leader of the SDP parliamentary group.
 An Yle straw poll of SDP council members on Wednesday gave Marin a narrow lead, with 20 councillors supporting her versus 14 for Lindtman. However 20 others said they had not decided yet, and seven could not be reached.
 The parties aim to carry out government talks before choosing a new prime ministerial candidate. Eventually the premier will be elected by Parliament and appointed by the president.
 Both Marin and Lindtman have said they do not think it would be fair for either of them to be named to form a new government at this stage. Centre politicians said on Wednesday that they were not opposed to having Rinne lead negotiations.
 Friday would have marked the end of the Rinne government's first six months in office.


Some 2.7 million people in Finland tuned in to follow Friday evening's  Independence Day gala , which is most-watched programme in the annual TV calendar.
 First lady  Jenni Haukio 's fuchsia dress was voted the best by Yle viewers, drawing over 12,000 votes. Haukio dug into her closet for sartorial inspiration this year, recycling an outfit she wore at the 2015 Independence Day gala. Fashion experts told Yle the first lady was making a statement that it's okay rewear the same looks. She did, however, alter the dress by adding lace sleeves.
 Last year Haukio's Independence Day dress was  made from birch trees  in a nod to the gala's 2018 environmental theme.
 First couple Sauli Niinistö and Jenni Haukio. Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva
 In second place with more than 11,000 votes was a flowing floral creation worn by  Jitka Nováčková , girlfriend of  Tim Sparv , captain of the Finnish National Football Team.
 Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva
 Third runner-up was 2018 teacher of the year  Sari Salo , whose Greek-inspired evening gown drew nearly 11,000 votes.
 Mårten Lampén / Yle
 More than 40,000 people cast their vote for the best-dressed via Yle's app. Users were able to select more than one gown as their favourite, leading to some 160,000 split votes. People could, however, only vote for the same dress once.


Coalition partners on Saturday said they approved of former PM  Antti Rinne ’s government programme, responding to a survey sent out by him to help move government formation talks along. Rinne, who  resigned earlier this week , is leading negotiations on forming a new government.
 Rinne’s five-party coalition was made up of the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party, the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party.
 The Social Democrats' government partners also said they were prepared to form a new government led by the SDP.
 However parties in the opposition—the Finns Party, the National Coalition Party, the Christian Democrats and Movement Now—responded that they were not prepared to approve the programme crafted by Rinne’s administration.
 Rinne, who was ousted from the premiership earlier this week, will meet with parliamentary group representatives starting Sunday morning in an effort to assemble a new cabinet by next Tuesday.
 The SDP’s party council is set to choose a prime ministerial candidate on Sunday evening.
 Postal scandal toppled Rinne
 A  protracted postal strike  this autumn over workers' terms and conditions culminated in the  resignation of the SDP minister in charge of overseeing state-owned firms,  Sirpa Paatero . News emerged that she knew of Posti's plans to shift some workers to a lower-paying contract and misled MPs about it. Since then, there have been indications that former union boss Rinne, too, knew of the plan and tacitly approved it in August.
 These events led to the Centre Party expressing  a lack of confidence in Rinne , which ultimately led to him stepping down as prime minister ahead of a parliamentary challenge filed by opposition parties.
 Finland eyes 30-something premier
 Two politicians are in the running for the premiership: Minister of Transport and Communications  Sanna Marin , who is the deputy party chair and a  former acting party chair , and  Antti Lindtman , leader of the SDP parliamentary group.
 Finland's next premier will eventually be elected by Parliament and appointed by the president.


The SDP Party Council on Sunday evening elected  Sanna Marin  to serve as Finland’s new Prime Minister, following  Antti Rinne' s  resignation  on 3 December. The fallout from a  protracted postal dispute  led to Rinne stepping down ahead of a  parliamentary challenge  filed by opposition parties.
 Marin received 32 votes while fellow fellow SDP politician in the running for the premiership  Antti Lindtman  drew 29 votes from members of the Social Democratic Party Council.
 At 34, Marin is two years younger  Esko Aho  who became Finland's prime minister in 1990 at the age of 36.
 Marin is a second-term MP from Tampere and has been Minister of Transport and Communications  since June . She led the party during Rinne's  extended sick leave  last winter.
 Marin holds a Master's in Administrative Studies and is married with a toddler.
 In a  letter  she sent to SDP members on Sunday, Marin said, "Finland is in the midst of an exceptional situation. The main focus for Social Democrats is to continue our work in building a fairer and more egalitarian society."
 Working-class background
 During general elections this spring, Marin's  campaign  emphasised environmental sustainability and equality. Marin is against Finland joining NATO and has said she wants to phase-out fossil fuel vehicles.
 Raised by a single mother, she has  blogged  about her working-class background and the financial difficulty her family faced. She said she was the first person from her family to finish high school and gain a university education, achievements which she credits to the welfare state. Marin has also talked about the  stigma  she encountered as her mother was later in a same-sex relationship with a woman.
 Finland's next premier will eventually be elected by Parliament and appointed by the president.


Finland’s newspapers are dominated by one story: the selection of  Sanna Marin  by the Social Democratic Party Council  to be the next Prime Minister .
 Helsingin Sanomat writes that Marin’s slim victory over  Antti Lindtman  at the council meeting on Sunday night means  the Finnish government is now run by five women  - four of whom are under 35.
 If Marin also becomes the chair of her party — and she has indicated that she intends to challenge outgoing Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  for the position — then all five parties in the coalition government would be chaired by women, HS writes.
 Alongside Marin as Prime Minister will be the 32-year-old leader of the Centre Party and Minister of Economic Affairs  Katri Kulmuni  — who has now been named to become Finance Minister, 34-year-old  Maria Ohisalo,  who heads up the Green Party and serves as Interior Minister, 32-year-old Left Alliance chair and Minister of Education  Li Andersson , and 55-year-old Swedish People’s Party leader and Minister of Justice  Anna-Maja Henriksson .
 HS’s sister tabloid Ilta-Sanomat has a  profile piece  on the new PM — as do many other papers — to introduce the "relatively unknown" Marin to their readers.
 The paper speaks to a number of Marin’s former colleagues and the comments range from very positive: "she is smart and quick to learn", according to a former colleague on the Tampere city council, to very critical: "intense green left-wing freak", from a source who did not wish to be named, IS writes.
 The paper also notes that the "calm and restrained" Marin can show a tougher side too, as evidenced during a famous  Tampere city council meeting  (video with English subtitles) in 2016 when she became increasingly exasperated at the behaviour of some of her tram-sceptical council colleagues as they filibustered the debate.
 Paatero's long week
 The old adage, usually attributed to former British Prime Minister  Harold Wilson , that a "week is a long time in politics" is certainly true for  Sirpa Paatero .
 Tabloid Iltalehti  writes that the former Minister for State Ownership Steering , who resigned on November 29 after providing confusing answers about what she knew and when in relation to national mail carrier Posti’s plans to  cut the pay of 700 workers , is now back in politics as Finland’s Minister of Local Government.
 The tabloid explains that although Paatero tended her resignation to Rinne and went on sick leave, the resignation was not processed before Rinne himself resigned on December 3.
 "Well, yes, I have to admit, it's been quite a tough week," Paatero told the paper, adding that she is "of course delighted and really taken with confidence" that she figures in Marin’s future plans.
 100,000 start strike
 Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat reports on a  planned strike by as many as 100,000 workers  that began on Monday morning. The strike, one of the largest in recent years, will see workers attached to the Industrial Union, Trade Union Pro and the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN down tools for the next three days.
 This includes workers involved in fuel production, pharmaceutical companies, mines and several technology companies.
 The paper writes that the strike is unlikely to have an impact on the lives of ordinary citizens in the short term but if it were to be prolonged, it may impact the availability of some medicines and the distribution of heating oil.
 The paper also quotes  Minna Helle , labour market director at the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, who believes the strike will have a detrimental effect on Finnish exports over the coming days.
 "There is little awareness among international customers that products will not be delivered due to the strike. This poses a threat to customer relationships and Finland's reputation," Helle said.
 In response to her comments,  Riku Aalto , president of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, said that employer representative always try to paint "gloomy clouds" in these situations.


When Finland's parliament votes in the next few days on the Social Democratic Party's nomination of  Sanna Marin  as prime minister, the 34-year-old current Minister of Transport and Communications is likely to become the world's youngest serving head of government.
 Currently that title is held by the 35-year-old Ukrainian Prime Minister  Oleksiy Honcharuk , who took office in May.
 Marin will also become the youngest prime minister in Finnish history, as she is two years younger than the Centre Party's  Esko Aho , who became prime minister in April 1991 at the age of 36.
 Marin was asked a question about her age as soon as the result of the vote was announced at the Social Democratic Party Council in Helsinki on Sunday evening.
 "I will respond in the same way as before. I have not actually ever thought about my age or my gender, I think of the reasons I got into politics and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate," Marin said.
 There is no official list of the youngest Heads of State or Prime Ministers, but after Marin and Honcharuk, the list of the next youngest includes North Korean leader  Kim Jong-Un  (36), El Salvador President  Nayib Bukele  (38) and New Zealand Prime Minister  Jacinda Ardern  (39).
 Marin's coalition partners all led by women
 Marin's coalition partners in Finland’s five-party government are all led by women - four of whom are under 35 years of age; 32-year-old current Minister of Economic Affairs -- and soon-to-be Minister of Finance --  Katri Kulmuni  is the leader of the Centre Party, 34-year-old  Maria Ohisalo  heads up the Green Party and serves as Interior Minister, 32-year-old Minister of Education  Li Andersson  is the Left Alliance chair, and 55-year-old  Anna-Maja Henriksson  is the Swedish People’s Party leader and Minister of Justice.
 Marin has risen very quickly through the political ranks since she became head of Tampere City Council at the age of 27, and she is currently into her second term as a member of parliament. She already has some experience in the top job as she led the party during the previous incumbent  Antti Rinne 's  sick leave  last winter.
 Marin set out the vision for her premiership in a  letter  to SDP members on Sunday, as she wrote "Finland is in the midst of an exceptional situation. The main focus for Social Democrats is to continue our work in building a fairer and more egalitarian society."


The reshuffle of Finland's government continues on Monday. The previous evening, the two main partners, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Centre Party, decided to form a slightly altered cabinet based on the same platform as its predecessor.
 To the surprise of some within its own leadership, the Centre announced a key ministerial swap on Monday morning.
 Katri Kulmuni , who took over as Centre leader in September, is to become finance minister while outgoing finance chief  Mika Lintilä  will in effect be demoted to his former post as minister of economic affairs. The finance minister, who oversees the budget, also traditionally serves as deputy prime minister.
 Kulmuni said she considers it crucial that cooperation is smooth between the government's 'power duo' of prime minister and finance minister.
 In both cases, the former older male ministers are being replaced by younger women. The five weightiest portfolios in the new cabinet will likely be held by women, four of them in their early 30s.
 In a difficult situation, Kulmuni said, it is the party leader's responsibility to take on the heaviest portfolio. After her speech, she told Yle that the changes had been made faster than she expected, and unanimously.
 "We didn't know that the whole Council of State would change. When a big change takes place, it is important that the government's axle, the power duo of prime minister and finance minister, works. That is the foundation of this 'red soil' government," she said, using the old moniker for partnerships between the left-leaning SDP and the agrarian-rooted Centre.
 "We do the jobs offered by the people's movement"
 Lintilä, meanwhile, professed to being pleased with returning to his former post of Minister of Economic Affairs, which he held from 2016 until last summer. The title is a relatively recent addition to Finnish cabinets, having only been coined in 2008. Kulmuni was the first woman to hold the post, and only had it for half a year.
 Asked if he would have wanted to carry on as finance minister, Lintilä declined to answer directly.
 "Here we always do the jobs offered by the people's movement. They are both excellent posts in which it is extremely interesting to work," he replied.
 Yle has learned that the switch came as a surprise to others in the party's leadership and ministerial group. Some 'key individuals' were first informed of the change just before the morning press conference.
 According to Kulmuni, the change "came at the proposal of the party chair".
 The other Centre ministers from the outgoing  Antti Rinne  government are to remain in their positions:  Antti Kaikkonen  as Defence Minister,  Jari Leppä  as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and  Hanna Kosonen  as Minister of Science and Culture.
 Kosonen took over that job when  Annika Saarikko  went on family leave in August, two months after taking office. She is expected to return to the post in August 2020.
 Smaller parties likely to keep ministers
 Of the junior government partners, at least the Swedish People's Party plans to keep its two ministers in the same posts: party chair  Anna-Maja Henriksson  as Justice Minister and  Thomas Blomqvist  as Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality.
 The Greens and Left Alliance are to confirm later on Monday whether they will join the revamped government. Both have leadership meetings scheduled for 4pm.
 Both are expected to carry on with their current ministers. The cabinet has officially been a caretaker government since last Tuesday when  Rinne resigned as prime minister  after Kulmuni's Centre expressed a nebulously-worded lack of confidence in him following a protracted labour dispute.
 On Sunday evening the SDP decided to replace him as prime minister with  current Minister of Transport and Communications Sanna Marin , after she narrowly defeated parliamentary group chair  Antti Lindtman  in a party council vote.
 The party has nominated Rinne to become deputy speaker of parliament, replacing  Tuula Haatainen . She is expected to return to government as employment minister, taking over from  Timo Harakka , who in turn is to succeed Marin in the transport post.
 Rinne says he plans to remain party leader until next summer. He predicted on Sunday that Parliament will vote on his replacement on Tuesday. That is expected to be a rubber-stamp approval, as the five parties hold a strong majority.
 Approval on Tuesday would allow time for Marin to be appointed by the president and sworn in before Thursday, when she is to head to Brussels for a European Council summit. It effectively marks the end of Finland's six-month presidency of the body.