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Government survives confidence vote over handling of rising fuel prices

The vote of confidence was preceded by a lively debate on ways to take the sting out of ballooning electricity and fuel prices.

Sanna Marin ja Annika Saarikko.
Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko and Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Image: Lehtikuva
  • Yle News

Prime Minister Sanna Marin's (SDP) government survived a confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday, with MPs voting 94 to 67. There were 38 MPs absent and no abstentions.

The vote of confidence was held after the Finns Party, the Christian Democrats and Movement Now submitted a motion of no confidence about the government's handling of rising fuel and energy prices.

A lively debate ahead of the vote took place on Tuesday.

In the motion, members of the opposition criticised the government for what it characterised as an overly ambitious climate policy and called for reductions in, among other things, fuel taxes and the household electricity tax.

In their response to the motion, the government parties rejected the opposition’s demands as costly and supportive of the use of fossil fuels. The government also referred to a package of measures it unveiled last week to compensate for rising prices.

Among other things, the government plans to temporarily increase the travel expense deduction for business commutes, make a "professional diesel" available – a fuel for professional drivers that would be taxed at a lower rate – and ease agricultural costs by temporarily suspending property taxes on agricultural facilities.