Antti Rinne, the newly elected chair of Finland’s Social Democratic Party, began his term as the Minister of Finance on Friday. Following the presidential formality, Rinne took his oath of office at a general assembly of the Council of State.
The ministerial position opened up when the current Minister of Finance, Jutta Urpiainen, announced her resignation from the post after her defeat in the campaign for the chairmanship of the SDP.
Last week, Rinne admitted to having wondered whether he would be able to combine his responsibilities as Minister of Finance and chair for the party.
”I have been reassured that both positions can be held successfully at once,” Rinne says.
Jobs top new Fin Min's agenda
Rinne promised today that creating jobs is top of his agenda. But also in the new minister's in-tray - big decisions to thrash out with his coalition colleagues about where cuts should fall and how heavily in government's ongoing campaign to rein in spending and tame public debt.
Ex-union boss Rinne is known for his hardline approach to negotiating - and for his opposition to government's austerity plan, which has leaned heavily on social services and lower income earners.
Rinne takes over the dual positions as voter confidence in the party slides. A recent Yle poll revealed that the social democrats have been relegated from the major league of political parties to become underdogs in terms of voter approval.
Leaving office, Rinne's predecessor Jutta Urpilainen said this morning she had a 'clean conscience', and stood by some of her more unpopular decisions such as reducing corporate taxes.
And in a pointed reminder to one prominent critic from inside her own party - the man who ousted her and who's taken over her job - she warned that the government's challenges are "far from over".