Major division in the Finnish government over the Sami Parliament Act

On Thursday, the hotly contested new Sami Parliament Act moved on for processing in the Finnish Riksdag.

That after it was debated in three government periods.

- I am concerned about the situation of the Sami young people.

I know that many people find it very heavy and traumatic to have to go through a process like this time after time.

So it is our duty to seek solutions, says Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (SFP) to SVT Sápmi in connection with her presentation of the bill on Thursday.

The fact that it has taken so long for the team to move on to the Riksdag has led to major protests among Sami on the Finnish side.

During Thursday afternoon, several Sami young people gathered outside the Riksdag building and demonstrated.

Bad opinion numbers

But the law is controversial.

Before Henriksson met the media on Thursday afternoon, the government itself was forced to an internal vote.

A majority of the ministers voted for the law - but the second largest government party, the Center Party, voted against.

With only months left until the parliamentary elections, the Center Party is struggling with poor public opinion figures.

As the bourgeois alternative in the Social Democratic-led government, they have lost three percent since the 2019 election, according to Yle's opinion poll in November.

In Finnish newspapers, there has been speculation that this could be a reason why the party is now so vocal about the Sami Parliament elections.

The party's members, on the other hand, refer to the language requirement in the new law.

The new language requirement means that several current Sami Parliament politicians in Finland can no longer stand in the Sami Parliament elections.

Loses voting rights

The law now goes to a vote in the Riksdag.

There, the other government parties now hope to get support from opposition parties to get the law through.

It is already the third government to prepare a new law.

What does this say about the position of minority and indigenous rights in Finland?

- It is clear that I am very concerned about this situation.

I have been for a long time.

I see we can't go on like this.

It is a sign of weakness for Finland that they have not managed to resolve this situation, says Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson to SVT Sàpmi.