Wednesday April 17, 2024

Sote reform constitutional challenge yet to be resolved

Published : 11 Feb 2019, 21:42

Updated : 11 Feb 2019, 22:45

  DF Report
The Constitutional Law Committee held an extraordinary meeting on 11 February 2019.The committee met to finalize its statement on the social and health reform. Photo Hanne Salonen / Eduskunta.

The Constitution Law Committee was on Monday yet to issue a crucial piece of statement on the legislation concerning health and social care reform (Sote), reported a Finnish language daily Kaleva.

The committee will continue with the work on Tuesday. The members of the committee did not disclose detail about the output after the meeting.

The members of the committee did not comment whether the statement will be completed on Tuesday.

"At times we may get 20 pages complete in ten minutes, but sometimes we may get stuck. We have a lot of discussion and many want to have their views heard. We are in the general discussion. It may go to next week if we are not successful. Hope this does not happen," reported Kaleva quoting a committee member Markus Lohi as saying.

The committee, however, went through the draft statement on Monday.

"The reading of the draft statement lasted for four years," another committee member Matti Torvinen told Kaleva.

The current government will not have enough time to deal with Sote legislation if the Constitutional Committee's statement reveal that there are still many constitutional problems.

Efforts have been made to make changes to the law and, in particular, to the freedom of act provision in the legislation.

However, it is not yet known whether changes would be enough from the constitutional point of view.