Finland's entire government just resigned

(Image credit: SEPPO SAMULI / Getty Images)

published 8 March 2019

Finland's president is out. And so is his cabinet. And everyone else at the top of the government.

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, who's led the country since 2015, resigned Friday after his package of health care and other welfare programs flopped. His entire cabinet quickly followed suit, though President Sauli Niinistö and the rest of the cabinet will stay in their jobs until next month's election, BBC reports.

Sipilä introduced the massive social welfare overhaul in an attempt to save the country an estimated $3.4 billion over the next decade, The Wall Street Journal notes. Finland's population is aging, and without these economic reforms, Sipilä told reporters Friday that "there is no other way for Finland to succeed." But Finland's parliament disagreed, voting down the package and saying it was unconstitutional. Sipilä accepted "responsibility" for the defeat, saying his "government works on a 'result or out' principle," Reuters reports.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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