The request follows Jonkka's own preliminary study of how the Ministry has carried out its role of supervisor of candidates' finances. That revealed that the Ministry has not so far checked candidates' own reports of election funding -- which in many cases have turned out to be incomplete.
The Chancellor has given the ministry a deadline of July 7 for its report. He has broad-ranging powers to investigate possible wrong-doing by officials.
SDP: No Interpellation Now Meanwhile the largest opposition party, the SDP, has decided not to present an interpellation in Parliament over the issue of campaign financing. On Monday, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen urged the opposition to test support for the government in Parliament. SDP chair Eero Heinäluoma said that such a vote would gauge confidence in the cabinet as a whole, and that is not at issue now. The two main government parties, the Centre and the conservative National Coalition Party, have so far been the focus of most of the attention concerning irregularities in campaign finances. They in turn have called on the SDP to come clean about all of its funding from labour unions. The head of the SDP's parliamentary group, Tarja Filatov, instead called on Vanhanen to explain his views on the issue more clearly to Parliament before the summer holidays begin just over two weeks from now. Vanhanen immediately rejected that call. YLE