Soini: MPs kept in dark on collateral deal
Finns Party leader Timo Soini says Finnish MPs have not been given enough time to study the agreement reached between Finland and Spain on collateral for supporting a bailout for Spanish banks.
Soini, the leader of the main opposition party, said he was forced to turn to foreign sources for details on the agreement.
"It's preposterous that parliamentarians have less than 19 hours to decide on billion euro guarantees," he told Yle's discussion programme A-Studio on Wednesday evening.
Jan Vapaavuori, the parliamentary leader of Katainen's National Coalition party, said that while the tight timetable was regrettable, the main issues involving the Spanish bailout had not been a secret.
A 70-page translation of the agreement was delivered to MPs around 8pm on Wednesday. The legislature will meet at 2pm on Thursday to debate the collateral deal in a special plenary session of Parliament. A possible vote on the matter will take place Friday.
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