Parliament passes crisis management bill - UN mandate not to be required for Finnish participation

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Finland will soon no longer require a mandate from the United Nations Security Council for its soldiers to participate in international crisis management operations.
      Parliament overwhelmingly passed a bill for a new crisis management law on Thursday. The government’s proposal won by a vote of 133 to 24. The bill stipulates that in exceptional conditions, Finland can take part in crisis management even if it is not covered by a UN mandate. Opponents of the wording would have wanted to keep the requirement of a UN mandate.
      Voting to keep the UN mandate requirement were the Christian Democrats, the True Finns, and the Left Alliance. Former Left Alliance Chairwoman Suvi-Anne Siimes voted with the government block, and two opposition parties - the National Coalition Party, and the Green League - to lift the UN mandate requirement.
      The dispute over the crisis management bill was the last straw for Siimes, which made her decide to resign from the Left Alliance leadership, and to withdraw from the work of the party’s parliamentary group.
     
The bill is to be passed as a permanent exception to constitutional stipulations, and as such, it requires a two thirds majority for passage, and a five sixths majority to be declared "urgent".


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Dispute over UN mandate in crisis management question flares up again in Parliament (22.2.2006)
  Government to propose expedited procedure for crisis management law (15.2.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat