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April 20, 2011 at 06:41 AM
The surprisingly large gain of seats in the Finnish parliament by an anti-euro party during the Sunday election was previously reported by AdvisorOne as having serious consequences for the bailout sought by Portugal. Now it appears that that is indeed the case, as outgoing Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi has told the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that a parliamentary vote on approval of Portugal's bailout package will have to wait till the new government is seated.
Reuters reported that Kiviniemi characterized the vote thus: "It is such a big issue that a caretaker government cannot handle it." That could put Portugal's bailout in real jeopardy, since euro zone finance ministers are expected to discuss the proposed bailout on May 16, and Helsinki most likely must wait till May 20 at the earliest for its new government to take office—with many incoming officials opposed to the terms of the bailout.
Although Jyrki Katainen, leader of the Conservative National Coalition and set to become the next prime minister, has said that the incoming government's position should be clear by the date of the ministers' meeting, the True Finns Party is opposed to approving any bailout on existing terms. Instead, leader of the True Finns Timo Suini has said that he will not accept Finnish participation in the bailout through the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) without more liability from private investors.
