Yesterday, Finland prime minister resigned after a key coalition partner withdrew its support from his five-party Cabinet, over postal service dispute.
Earlier, Antti Rinne, who took office in June, has been harshly criticized over how he and a fellow party member in charge of government companies dealt with state-owned postal service Posti, whose workers went on strike for two weeks in November.
The resignation of Rinne, 57, prompted the formal resignation of the Cabinet made up of Rinne's Social Democratic Party, the Center Party, the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party of Finland.
On its part, the Center Party withdrew its backing for Rinne on Monday, but pledged its continued support for government programs, hence avoiding an early election. In the next few days, Parliament will decide on a new prime minister.
According to AP, the ruling coalition had demanded that Rinne explain the government's statements and actions. However, one key coalition partner — the Center Party — said the explanations weren't acceptable and cited a lack of trust in Rinne, urging him either to resign or to face a no-confidence vote.
On his part, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, told Rinne: "Thanks for the short, but many moments of good cooperation."
Finland's postal workers ended their 2-week strike on Nov. 27 after a deal was reached on pay. The union representing Posti employees said it was satisfied with the agreement reached over the work contracts of about 700 package handlers.
During the strike, a one-day sympathy strike was held by the Nordic country's transport sector to support the postal workers, leading flagship airline Finnair to cancel almost 300 flights and disrupting business in the capital.
The resignation comes as Finland holds the European Union's rotating presidency.
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