The Finnish Parliament has elected former Finns Party chair Jussi Halla-aho as its Speaker, as expected. Halla-aho gathered 134 votes in the 200-seat legislature. He garnered support from two dozen MPs besides those representing the four new government parties. Halla-aho, 52, is known for his tough stance and language on immigration, which have led to convictions for hate speech.
The vote had to be conducted twice. In the first round, there was a discrepancy between the number of ballots and the number of MPs present.
The Speaker's post is traditionally held by an MP from the second-largest party in the Parliament. Halla-aho's party holds 46 seats, just behind new Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's National Coalition Party (NCP), which has 48. Ex-PM Sanna Marin's Social Democratic Party (SDP) is third with 43 seats, with the Centre Party a distant fourth with its 23 seats.
The remaining votes were scattered, with MP Eva Biaudet from the Swedish People's Party, one of the junior partners in the new cabinet, picking up nine votes and another Finns Party MP, Juho Eerola, collecting eight. Five other MPs got one vote each. Meanwhile 28 MPs abstained and four ballots were rejected.
Paula Risikko (NCP) was elected as the first Deputy Speaker of Parliament. She held several cabinet portfolios in 2011-15. Risikko was elected by a wide margin, gaining 177 votes, with two other MPs picking up stray votes and two MPs casting blank ballots.
Former Labour Minister Tarja Filatov (SDP) will continue as the second Deputy Speaker, a post she has held on and off since 2010.
After the drawn-out voting process, Orpo briefly presented his government's programme, a day after taking office.
That was followed by statements from Finance Minister and Finns Party chair Riikka Purra, parliamentary delegation chairs including Matias Marttinen (NCP) and Antti Lindtman (SDP), who hopes to replace Marin as party leader and opposition leader in September. She is stepping down from the party leadership but is to stay on as a backbench MP.