The Greens left the Government

On May 26, due to the vote in favour of the new nuclear power in the parliament on May 24, the Green League of Finland decided to leave the government coalition. A joint meeting of the party council and the Green group in the parliament took a vote in the issue with 38 votes in favour and 8 votes against leaving the government. This means that the government will go on without the Greens from now on - the president will approve the resignation of the party and Minister of Environment Satu Hassi.

The main argument behind the decision of the Greens is the strong signal that the nuclear power vote of the parliament carries with it. The nuclear vote was not purely about production of electricity but also about the future of our society, our influence in the world, and about values. The Greens feel that the vote in the parliament was a vote against Green policies and values. The party cannot continue in a government where these kinds of non-Green values are prevailing. We do not want to be a Green-label to nuclear power!

The Greens will continue political work for the Green aims from this new position. There is still a lot to do in all fields of politics, and in fact, in energy policy the Greens need to promote renewables even harder than before. The Greens all know that we did our best - but we lost in the end. Despite the disappointment, the mood in our annual party congress this weekend was good and constructive. Now it's time to look ahead. For the next nine months, the party will concentrate in developing new initiatives and in campaigning for the March 2003 elections.

Our experiences on working within a government coalition were very positive; we have been able to promote many things that are important to the Greens. When the next government talks start, the Greens want to be strong and well prepared to take part in them. The main questions for us then would be questions around economical and social wellbeing and sustainable energy policy.