Päivi Räsänen, Finland’s Interior Minister and leader of the Christian Democrat party, has denied saying that she would leave the government if a citizen’s initiative to allow gender neutral marriage was passed by parliament.
She was quoted by Turun Sanomat as saying that her party could leave government if gay marriage was legalised, but she now says that she would only leave government if the measure was introduced and passed as a government bill.
The current attempt to bring in same-sex unions is a citizens’ initiative that received 166,000 signatures and is likely to be voted on by parliament in November.
Räsänen says that parliament is free to decide on the matter and her party’s continued participation in government does not depend on the vote. However she notes that the government agreement stipulated that the cabinet would not drive through a bill to allow same-sex marriage.
“We are keeping our side of the bargain and naturally we trust that our government partners will also keep to our agreement,” said Räsänen.
“The government has to concentrate on vital questions about the Finnish economy,” said Räsänen.
Matter of principle
Earlier on Sunday it had looked as though Finland’s four-party coalition government, which has seen the departure of two parties from the original six-party lineup, could come under renewed strain if parliament votes in favour of a bill on gender-neutral marriage that’s due to come before parliament in November.
Christian Democrat leader Päivi Räsänen said in an interview with the Turun Sanomat newspaper on Sunday that the issue was especially important to her party.
“It’s a matter of principle and it could see us leave,” said Interior Minister Räsänen.
Her government colleague, Defence Minister Carl Haglund, was quick to respond in a statement sent out by his Swedish People’s party’s press office.
"Finland needs responsible government"
“Finland is in an unusually challenging economic situation,” Haglund was quoted as saying. “Now there’s a need for responsibility, not political defections from the government. It cannot be that our country’s government’s ability to operate is brought into question just because of a principled opposition to a citizen’s initiative.”
There have been several attempts to bring in a same-sex marriage law in Finland. The first to fail was a bill co-signed by National Coalition party MPs Lasse Männistö and Alexander Stubb, who is now Prime Minister—and therefore Räsänen’s boss.
When that was rejected at the committee stage, campaigners utilised Finland’s law on citizens’ initiatives. That law means MPs have to consider a proposal that receives at least 50,000 signatures, and the proposal on same-sex marriage received 166,000.
Gov't MPs support gay marriage
The public support was not enough to get the measure through the committee stage, however, and the same Legal Affairs Committee voted against the bill once more. That committee will now prepare a consultation document, but recommend MPs reject same-sex marriage. A full sitting of parliament will consider and vote on the bill at the end of this year, most likely in early November.
In February of this year an Yle survey found that majorities of NCP, SDP and Swedish People’s Party MPs said they supported gender-neutral marriage. All six Christian Democrat MPs, meanwhile, said they were firmly opposed to the idea.
This story was edited on 26.10 to reflect Päivi Räsänen's clarifying comments.
