Finnish Parliament accepted the resignation of MP Sanna Marin (SDP) on Tuesday.
Marin, who at the age of 34 rose to international recognition as the world's youngest prime minister at the end of 2019, the recently re-elected MP announced plans last week that she had accepted a post at the UK-based Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as a strategic advisor and asked to resign.
News of Marin's departure plans drew criticism as well as praise. The resignation is to take effect on Wednesday.
The resignation was approved in accordance with the Speaker's Council advocating her request last week. Additionally, there were no counter proposals during the plenary session.
In the sole address on the matter, MP Juha Mäenpää (Finns) was critical of Marin's decision to leave, but ultimately he supported the Speaker's Council's decision. Mäenpää said he wanted to remind people that being an MP involves responsibilities of trust, in which voters should be able to trust that those elected to parliament will respect them.
"A new door has opened"
Following parliament's vote to accept her resignation, Marin spoke to reporters before joining members of the SDP parliamentary group to celebrate her departure.
"In my opinion, the parliamentary process went quite matter-of-factly, just as it should, first with discussion of the Speaker's Council [decision] and then in the Plenary Hall. Personally, I have a new beginning ahead of me and a new door has opened," Marin told reporters.
However, her decision to depart just months after April's elections has prompted a certain amount of outrage among MPs. Among others, Speaker of Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) voiced surprise about Marin's announcement last week.
However, based on past practices in previous years, the Speakers' Council supported her resignation. According to the Constitution, MPs can be granted permission to resign if they are doing so in order to take on a socially important position.
The Speaker's Council is made up of the Speaker of Parliament, the two Deputy Speakers and the committee chairs.
After the Speaker's Council issued its decision, Halla-aho said the criteria of the term 'socially important' should be clarified.
Marin, now 37, said at her new job she will continue to work for the values and issues that she has in the past. However, she did not reveal more about her new job.
"You will hear more about all these tasks in the future," Marin told reporters.
Marin also said that she hopes to be able to live in Finland in the future.
Would you like a roundup of the week's top stories in your inbox every Thursday? Then sign up to receive our weekly email.