Finland's Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns) survived a confidence vote in Parliament on Monday.
The vote fell 92-76, with the majority voting for continued confidence in Rydman.
Two MPs belonging to the coalition government abstained — they included the National Coalition Party's Pihla Keto-Huovinen and Eva Biaudet, of the Swedish People's Party.
Members of the opposition Social Democrats, Left Alliance and Green parties tabled a confidence motion against Rydman last week.
The motion was linked to a 2022 article in newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, which detailed Rydman's alleged harassment of young women.
Rydman has denied the allegations and took the paper to court over the article. Following three preliminary investigations by police, the prosecutor's office dropped cases surrounding Rydman alleged offences, including the minister's lawsuit, due to insufficient evidence.
Helsinki police completed three investigations involving Rydman in March — two where he was suspected of committing crimes and one in which he was the plaintiff.
The suspected offences included aggravated defamation, aggravated dissemination of information violating personal privacy, and a breach of confidentiality related to his ex-partner.
During last week's plenary debate about Minister Rydman, MPs bombarded him and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) with questions about confidence in the minister.
Orpo responded by saying the government was intact.
In mid-June, the PM said that Rydman — who used to belong to the National Coalition Party — could not serve as a minister for his party. However, he added there was a "long tradition" of each party choosing its own ministers.
Rydman resigned from the National Coalition Party parliamentary group in the summer of 2022 and from the party about half a year later. He joined the Finns Party at the beginning of 2023.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
