The four-party alliance right-wing government led by Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) on Wednesday survived a no-confidence motion brought against it in the parliament by three major opposition parties over Palestine issue.
Main opposition Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP), Vihreä liitto (Finnish Green League) and Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance) brought the motion accusing the government of its failure to take measures in recognising a Palestinian state.
The government won the motion by 94 votes to 80 with 25 lawmakers remaining absent.
The three parties on September 19, filed the interpellation asking the government to explain the reasons behind not recognising the Palestine as a state.
The government replied to the interpellation in the plenary session and the Parliament held vote on the motion after holding debate on the matter.
Leaders of the opposition parties have been criticizing the government for the last few months for its unwillingness to recognise a Palestinian state.
They also repeatedly warned of submitting a no-confidence motion against the government, if it does not recognise Palestine as a state in the UN General Assembly in September.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on several occasions that the four-party alliance government is not preparing to recognise the Palestine as a state at this moment.
President Alexander Stubb, however, expressed his readiness in July to recognise a Palestinian state, if the government were to propose it.
The Prime Minister reportedly also tried to pursue the President to delay publicly disclosing his support for recognising a Palestinian state.
According to a recent survey, majority of the lawmakers in Finnish parliament support recognition of Palestine as a state.
Different countries including France, UK, Canada and Australia already announced to recognise Palestine as a state at the UN General Assembly in September.
As of March 2025, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 147 member countries of the United Nations out of the total 193 member states.
- Govt
- Survives
- No-confidence vote
- Palestine
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
