HELSINKI, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government avoided collapse on Tuesday as a group of True Finns MPs seceded the populist party and vowed to support the current coalition led by centrist Juha Sipila.
By Tuesday night, 22 members of the originally 37 Finns Party parliamentary caucus were reported to leave, including the Parliament Speaker Maria Lohela.
Twenty of them were forming a new group called New Alternative, and the affiliation of the remaining two was unannounced.
Prime Minister Sipila concluded late Tuesday that the government could continue without changes and claimed the crisis is over.
The crisis began on Monday morning as Sipila met with Jussi Halla-aho, the newly elected hardliner leader of the True Finns and the conservative leader, Finance Minister Petteri Orpo. Sipila and Orpo announced their values were too far from Halla-aho for the coalition cooperation to continue.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sipila was on his way to submit a formal resignation to Finnish President Sauli Niinisto when he heard of the secession and made the new decision.
Sipila told media in Turku, near the Presidential Summer Palace in southwestern Finland, that he had consulted legal authorities. He said it was not necessary to resolve the government and reappoint the ministers.
The transitional period will culminate in a parliamentary vote of confidence for the cabinet. Sipila said Tuesday evening that the vote will be held in a few days depending on the parliamentary working schedule.
With the support from the defected group, the cabinet will have the backing of at least 106 MPs out of the 200-member parliament.
All the current True Finns ministers have joined the walkout. The ruling coalition now comprises the Center Party, the conservative National Coalition Party and the New Alternative.
Halla-aho said the secessionists "betrayed their voters". He compared the breakaway to the split of the predecessor populist "Finnish Rural Party" in early 1970s, which he said had been the party's darkest moment.
After a landslide victory in the 1970 election, the party split in 1972 as over half of the MPs formed a breakaway party. The Finns Party today is not a direct successor of the Rural Party, but its founder Timo Soini was an employee of the Rurals and has praised the Rural leader Veikko Vennamo as his idol.
Even though a breakup was speculated on Monday night, the scale of the secession astounded observers. Sipila assured the media Tuesday night that he had no idea of the size of the walkout until it actually happened.
Sampo Terho, minister for culture and European affairs, represents the New Alternative in the "leading trio" of the coalition. He told media on Tuesday night that the breakaway group is likely to launch a new political party.
The secessionists are unlikely to get public party funding. Last year, the legislation was changed so that in the event any parliamentary group splits, the original parliamentary group keeps all the public financing and possible secessionists could not walk away with their original financing.
