Finland Times

    Niinistö released Ville Niinistö, chair of the Green League, from his duties as Member of Government and Minister of the Environment; and Pekka Haavisto, the other member of the party from his duty as Member of Government and Minister for International Development as of September 26.

     At the same time, the president appointed Sirpa Paatero, Counselor of Preventive Substance Abuse Work, as Member of Government and Minister for International Development at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; and Sanni Grahn-Laasonen as Member of Government and Minister of the Environment.

     The Green League, which has 10 seats in the 200-member parliament, decided to quit the government last Thursday after the coalition government approved the new Russian-built Fennovoima nuclear plant on the same day.

     The withdrawal by the Green League will leave the five-party coalition government with only four parties: the leading National Coalition Party, the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Swedish People's Party.

     The remaining cabinet parties will have only 102 MPs, slightly more than the opposition parties in the 200-seat Finnish Parliament.

     The Finnish government used to be a six-party coalition cabinet. In march this year, the Left Alliance decided to leave the government over its refusal to accept the spending cut package agreed by the other parties of the cabinet, leaving the government with five parties.

     Founded in 1987, the Finnish Green League is a green and green-liberal political party in Finland. This is the second time that the Green League left the government. In 2002, the party quitted the government also over nuclear issue.