HELSINKI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Finnish Social Democratic Party (SDP) Antti Rinne was elected the temporary speaker of the parliament at the first plenary session on Wednesday.
His party is the biggest in the newly elected parliament. Rinne was elected with 187 votes in favor.
Finns Party MP Juho Eerola was elected the first deputy speaker with 172 votes. National Coalition Party (NCP) MP Paula Risikko, the outgoing speaker, grabbed 178 votes for the position of the second deputy speaker.
Conventionally, after the formation of the coalition government, Rinne will become prime minister, and a representative of the second largest ruling partner will take up the position of the speaker.
Rinne said earlier that the negotiation would begin on April 26, and decision on the government formation should be made by May 27.
One of the major reasons for the sense of urgency is the fact that the presidency of the Council of the European Union will be handed over to Finland in July. It is important that the new government has sufficient time to prepare for the presidency, according to Rinne.
In the parliamentary election held in mid-April, SDP received 17.7 percent of votes and became the biggest group with 40 seats. The populist Finns Party ranked the second with 17.5 percent of votes and took 39 seats. NCP ranked the third and gained 38 seats. The outgoing prime minister Juha Sipila's Center Party polled its lowest general election result ever, with just 13.8 percent of votes, or 31 seats.
