Finnish finance minister to quit after party vote

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s finance minister, Jutta Urpilainen, says she will stand down after her party ousted her as leader.

At a party conference of her Social Democrats, members voted narrowly Friday for Antti Rinne, a leader of a union that represents clerical workers, to replace Urpilainen as chairman.

It was not immediately clear when the 38-year-old Urpilainen will quit.

Partly because she pursued big budget cuts, Urpilainen has been blamed for the declining popularity of the Social Democrats, which is the second largest party in the five-party coalition government.

The 51-year-old Rinne has been president of one of Finland’s largest unions since 2011.

Rinne has pledged to cooperate with the other members of the coalition government if he is given the post of finance minister.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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