The Centre Party and Movement Now accuse the government of undermining young people’s faith in the future.
The Centre Party and Movement Now will challenge the government over the issue of youth unemployment, accusing it of undermining young people’s faith in the future.
The Centre, the second-largest opposition party, made the announcement on Tuesday. It will be joined in the interpellation by the one-man Movement Now. An interpellation forces government ministers to debate the issue and face a confidence vote in Parliament.
The two centre-right parties have often declined to join parliamentary challenges filed by the three left-leaning opposition parties, the SDP, the Left Alliance and the Greens – and have sometimes voted with the government parties.
With elections looming next spring, the parties can be seen as jockeying for positions ahead of government formation efforts a year from now.
Young people “losing faith in the future”
Last week, Centre parliamentary group chair Antti Kurvinen told the party newspaper Suomenmaa that the interpellation was under consideration.
“The government has allowed youth unemployment to worsen, with around 76,000 people under the age of 30 already out of work,” he said.
Last week, Statistics Finland reported that peopled aged 15-24 accounted for 28 percent of the nation’s jobseekers, with the trend of the unemployment rate among young people at 22 percent.
“At the same time, support for children, young people and families has been cut as part of cuts to social and health services. Education is being severely centralised,” Kurvinen argued.
According to Kurvinen, the government’s failure is reflected in the rapid collapse of young people’s faith in the future.
Kurvinen served for two years in SDP premier Sanna Marin’s cabinet, holding the portfolios of agriculture and then science and culture.
