Andersson expecting baby around New Year

Education Minister and Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance) Chairperson Li Andersson on Wednesday announced that she is expecting her first baby.

“Happy news. If everything goes well, my partner Juha and I will have a child around the New Year,” said Andersson in a Twitter post in Finnish on Wednesday.

Andersson is living together with former ice hockey player Juha Pursiainen.

The minister said she would continue to work normally until the Christmas holidays, if the health condition of both her and the child allows, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

She, however, said that it would not be possible to discharge her duties as a minister immediately after the birth of a child and another person will be chosen to take over the charge of the ministry temporarily in next spring.

The Vasemmistoliitto party council and parliamentary group will appoint a deputy minister, with the party’s board expected to propose a candidate for the position at a meeting scheduled for this Sunday.

Andersson said she intends to take parental leave from the responsibility of the party’s chair and media appearances ahead of the municipality elections scheduled for April next year.