The government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) on Wednesday won a Parliamentary vote of confidence over a proposed reform of Finland's social and healthcare services, which is nicknamed sote.
There were 21 MPs absent from the vote, with no abstentions. The votes were tallied at 103 to 75.
The motion was tabled by the four main opposition parties -- the Finns Party, National Coalition Party, Christian Democrats and Movement Now -- as they argued the government's draft bill does not achieve the goals of the reform.
In an interpellation request submitted to Parliament last week, the parties said the government’s current model will not reduce costs or speed up access to treatment.
"The Centre Party will get its bureaucratic jungle and the SDP will get a public monopoly, which will lead to longer queues, declining public services and a boom in the private insurance business," NCP leader and MP Petteri Orpo said during the interpellation debate on Tuesday.
Sote aims to hand over responsibility for the provision of social and healthcare services from Finland's 293 municipalities to 21 regional authorities plus the city of Helsinki.
The government is aiming to pass the bill into law before Parliament breaks for summer recess in July.
Successive governments have failed to get the reform over the line, with the administration of former Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Cen) resigning over the issue in 2019.