Finland Times

 

File Photo Lehtikuva.

Parliamentary discussion on the indigenous bill as defined by the International Labour Organisation Convention number 169 was on Thursday postponed until Friday.

 

The situation regarding the international convention is unclear, but the government intends to have further discussion on its fate.

 

Johannes Koskinen, the chair of parliamentary Constitutional Law Committee said the problem is due to the fact that the ILO Convention and the Act on the Sami Parliament are connected to each other, and at the moment, the whole issue has brewed confusion also in the Sami Parliament.

 

There is a possibility that the ILO Convention will be postponed until after the election. The bill will not lapse after the end of the parliamentary because it is an international treaty.

 

The stalemate on bill became clear at the beginning of the week after the parliament rejected the government bill to amend the Sami Parliament Act.

 

Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, Chair of the Sami Parliament had asked to resign from his position following parliament's rejection of the amendment of the Act on Sami Parliament, reported local media on Wednesday.

 

According to Näkkäläjärvi, the decision by the parliament to maintain the status with regard to the Sami people jeopardizes the indigenous status of the Sami people.

 

Article 14 of the ILO convention number 169 states that the rights of ownership and possession of the peoples concerned over the lands which they traditionally occupy shall be recognised.