Rinne made 1st Deputy Speaker of parliament

Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) Chairman and former Prime Minister Antti Rinne on Wednesday has been elected as the first deputy speaker of parliament, said an official press release.

Rinne bagged 101 votes in the elections, with 59 lawmakers abstaining from the ballot. One vote was rejected. Twelve other votes went in favour of various other MPs, reported national broad-caster Yle.

The position of first deputy speaker became vacant when SDP lawmaker Tuula Haatainen was ap-pointed as Labour Minister.

Rinne resigned from the Prime Minister post on December 3 as one of the components the Su-omen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) withdrew its backing for Rinne following the recent mas-sive postal strike across the country.