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Government survives Cyprus confidence vote

The Finnish government survived a confidence vote brought by the populist Finns party leader Timo Soini on the question of financial support for Cyprus. It is the 13 confidence vote Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen has faced since he took office in 2011.

Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini. Image: Yle

19.4.2013 14:55

The government was supported by 86 MPs, with 65 voting against, while 48 were absent for the vote.

The Centre party and the dissident Left Group, composed of two MPs who split from the Left Alliance in 2011 over European policy, also proposed confidence measures but they lost out to Soini’s.

Soini had tabled the question so as to see the matter debated in parliament, rather than in the legislature’s Grand Committee, which usually handles EU policy. When tabling the question, he said that ‘not a single euro’ should go to aid Cyprus.