Govt survives motion of no-confidence over Garden Helsinki funding

The four-party alliance right-wing government led by Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) on Tuesday survived a no-confidence motion brought against it in the parliament by the opposition parties over the corruption allegations regarding funding support for the Garden Helsinki project.

The government won the motion by 101 votes to 90 with eight lawmakers remaining absent in an extra-ordinary parliament session held breaking the ongoing summer recess to debate the allegations of corruption regarding the government conditional funding of 35 million euros for the Garden Helsinki arena project.

The main opposition Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) tabled the no-confidence motion which was supported by all the opposition parties in the parliament.

The opposition's criticism focused on issues such as lack of transparency in decision-making, bypassing official preparation, a possible link between the decision and election support, and the Prime Minister's judgment.

Proposals for a vote of no-confidence in the Government and the Prime Minister that were tabled and supported during the debate.

“The Government's procedure in deciding on state aid for the Garden Helsinki project has undermined citizens' trust in political decision-making and in equal treatment in the decision-making process. For these reasons, the opposition proposes that the Government does not enjoy the confidence of Parliament,” said SDP lawmaker Johannes Koskinen.

Earlier, the Parliament considered in its plenary session the government statement on the controversial funding decision for the Garden Helsinki project.

After the debate, Parliament voted on confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo delivered the introductory speech on the government statement concerning the project and outlined the background to the conditional support decision.

“Concerns have been raised about whether arena projects have been treated equally, whether the Government's decision was based on sufficient impact assessments and whether lobbying for the project was conducted transparently”, said Orpo.

According to Orpo, the government will now launch a review with the aim of defining a consistent and clear process and criteria for applying for state aid for similar projects.

Earlier on Monday, the government decided to withdraw the planned 35-million-euro conditional political support for the Garden Helsinki arena project amid corruption allegations.

Orpo on Friday called the Monday´s extraordinary cabinet meeting to discuss about the alleged corruption regarding the government conditional funding for the Garden Helsinki arena project.

Earlier on July 16, Speaker Jussi Halla-aho decided to convene parliament session on Tuesday breaking the ongoing summer recess to debate the allegations of corruption regarding the project led by led by former Economic Affairs Minister and former Helsinki Mayor of ruling Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) Jan Vapaavuori.