Finland's new government to have majority women ministers

Finland was set to have a female majority of 12 in the new 20-member Cabinet, after the prime minister's Center Party on Tuesday elected five women among its eight ministerial positions.

Photo: Finland's new government to have majority women ministers

The four-party government's conservatives - also with a total of eight seats - chose four women as ministers, and the Greens filled their two ministerial seats with women. The Swedish People's Party chose a man and a woman to fill its two seats.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's center-right government was to be sworn in on Thursday.

It would be the first time Finland has more women that men in the government, and follows March national elections that brought a record 84 women - or 42 percent - into the new 200-member Parliament.

The elections came 100 years after Finland became the first country to allow women to stand for election.