Issue of gay marriage may prevent Christian Democrats from entering into next government

Amendment to law on marriage may become threshold question

Päivi Räsänen

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If the next Finnish government makes it a part of its programme to grant homosexuals the right to marry by changing the law on marriage, the Christian Democrats may not be seen in that government, always assuming they do enough at the polls to be in consideration for a seat in the coalition that is formed after next April's elections. .
      “We will be part of a government that is in tune with Christian values”, saidPäivi Räsänen, chair of the Christian Democrats, at the party’s summer conference in Varkaus.
      The view of the party council of the Christian Democrats is that marriage should be kept a matter between a man and a woman.
      According to the party, a gender-neutral marriage is not in line with Christian values.
      “The threshold questions have not been discussed yet”, Räsänen added, however.
     
The Christian Democrats place their hopes on other parties starting to falter as well.
      Räsänen suspected that accepting gay marriages is not a trivial question, even though it may have looked like one.
      The party’s Parliamentary group chairman Bjarne Kallis pointed out that judging by the comments from his counterparts Pekka Ravi (National Coalition Party) and Timo Kalli (Centre Party), the issue is anything but resolved in their camps, either.
      ”It is pointless to start arguing over the matter at this point as the law is not yet topical”, Kallis added.
      He also said that his party would fight to the last breath to ensure that the law on marriage would remain unchanged.
     
MEP Sari Essayah said that the rights of homosexuals could be secured by amending the law on partnership without having to touch the law on marriage.
     
Kallis also voiced his suggestion on how to prolong people’s working careers: if an employee decided to continue in working life after the age of 63, he would only have to pay taxes equivalent to the amount he would pay from his pension.
      In this model nobody would lose, but the worker’s net wages could grow between one and two thousand euros per month.
      According to Kallis, the model is watertight. Even experts have not been able to fault it.
     
The Christian Democratic Party further criticised the government’s budget proposal and demanded the balancing of the state economy already during the next legislative period.
      In its own alternative budget proposal the party would introduce a EUR 25 increase to subsistence support.
      Räsänen repeated the party’s demand for setting up a "Family Ministry" during the upcoming legislative period.
      If the other tasks of the Minister of Health and Social Services were transferred onto the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, the number of ministers would remain unchanged, he added.
     
The Christian Democrats currently have seven MPs in the Finnish Parliament and collected roughly 4.9% of the vote at the last general election in 2007.
      The party has been in opposition since 1994, having resigned from the government over Finland's entry into the EU.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Supporters of gender-neutral marriage say church can choose whom it wants to marry (20.8.2010)
  Gay rights organisation praises enlightened voices from Lutheran Church (23.8.2010)
  Proposal for gender-neutral marriages puts future of church weddings in doubt (2..8.2010)
  Widespread support within Parliamentary parties for gender-neutral marriage (13.4.2010)
  Lutheran Church open to discussing same-sex unions (24.8.2010)

See also:
  Nat. Coalition Party delegates endorse abolition of mandatory Swedish, gender-neutral marriage (14.6.2010)
  National Coalition Party has confused stance on gay marriage (17.8.2010)

Links:
  Christian Democrats (Wikipedia)

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