The Prime Minister had previously submitted a written account of the government’s actions to Parliament’s Constitutional Law Committee. In his absence, the committee reviewed the written statement.
Katainen announced Tuesday that he would not attend the hearing in person. The law allows a minister to decide independently whether or not to appear before a committee, and gives the minister the option of submitting a written statement.
The Constitutional Law Committee is attempting to determine whether or not Katainen acted in accordance with the law when he decided to commission a price future competitiveness report from Pekka Himanen without a competitive bidding process.