The speaker of parliament, the SDP’s Eero Heinäluoma, has warned of the danger of an early election. As first the Left Alliance and then the Green League have left the government, leaving four parties in the governing coalition, calls have grown for new elections.
Most recently those calls came from Björn Wahlroos, a wealthy businessman who left Finland for tax reasons and now resides in Sweden. Wahlroos said that it was time for a new government with a new mandate, and that a fresh start was desirable as soon as possible.
Heinäluoma weighed in on Sunday, saying that the fall of the current government would risk instability.
“It would leave the budget up in the air,” said Heinäluoma. “If the government falls now, then we’re in a situation where next year’s budget is left until after the election. The same goes for the healthcare reform that’s been long in the works, and a number of other matters now under consideration, they’d all have to be revisited after the election.”
The government faces a confidence vote on Friday 7 November over its handling of the economy. The Green League has said it could vote against the government, which currently holds just 102 of 200 seats in parliament. One of those seats is held by speaker Heinäluoma, who does not vote because of his official role as speaker.
Heinäluoma says that even if the government lost a confidence vote, new elections would not necessarily follow—there could be an attempt to secure parliamentary backing for a new cabinet. It could even be a minority government, if that were likely to last until new elections are due next April.