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After it was revealed that Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso (Finns) hired her own son as her parliamentary assistant (PA), there has been a good deal of discussion in the country about the issue of nepotism in national politics. Due to the uproar, according to newspaper Iltalehti, Parliamentary Administrative Director Pertti Rauhio said he is considering proposing that Parliament itself would no longer handle hiring PAs. Instead, parliamentary party groups would take on the responsibility. Such a proposal would hinge on the legislature's Committee Secretariat receiving the mandate to do so, the paper explained. However, if implemented, the change would begin in the spring of 2027, when Finland's next parliamentary elections are scheduled. Rauhio's plan involves parliamentary groups receiving funds to hire assistants and organising them "as they see fit". According to him, most parliamentary groups are already using such a model, including 16 of the Finns Party MPs. The remaining 29 Finns Party MPs chose their own assistants, with Parliament handling the hiring. At the moment, the qualifications required of PAs are being over the age of 18 and the ability to pass a security clearance. "There are no other requirements," the newspaper noted. On Wednesday, Finns Party Secretary Harri Vuorenpää announced that the party was planning to prohibit its MPs from hiring their own family members or close relatives as parliamentary assistants. Iltalehti noted that MPs picking their own relatives as assistants is not a new phenomenon in Finland. It said the practice began in the late 1990s when lawmakers were granted the extra help of PAs. As examples, Iltalehti said Juhani Alaranta (Centre) and Anssi Rauramo (NCP) hired their sons, while Tuulikki Hämäläinen (SDP) hired her daughter, and Tuija Nurmi (NCP) hired her retired father. No ladies rule stays, most of board to leave On Thursday evening, members of the men-only Helsinki Finnish Club (Helsingin Suomalainen Klubi) voted on whether to allow women as members, according to Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet. The votes fell 66.5 percent approving of the change and 33.5 percent against it. While most favoured the measure, the club requires a 75 percent majority to change the rules, according to the paper. Ahead of the vote, eight out nine of the club's board members announced they planned to resign if the proposal to change the charter wasn't approved. This was not the first time the club has considered allowing females to join. According to HBL, the club will see nearly its entire board depart at the end of the year. A new board is set for selection at the end of next month. The clubs' board chair, Veli-Pekka Dufva, called the vote "a huge disappointment". "The board has worked hard to broaden the membership base, as it is very important for both the club's purpose and finances. Now that it was rejected by a minority, eight of us [board members] believe that we cannot continue, even though a large majority of the members would have been willing to [make the change]," Dufva said in a press release, according to HBL. The Helsinki Finnish Club, with a locale in the heart of the city, is a roughly 150-year-old organisation dedicated to preserving Finnish culture. A child's costly hit Vantaa daycare teacher Alissa Mettälä has been forced to pay for medical expenses she thinks stem from a job-related incident, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Her dilemma started at the end of January, as she was helping a small child to get dressed in outerwear to go outside. At the time she was employed by the City of Vantaa as a contracted daycare teacher. Mettälä said that as was bent over dressing the child, the child suddenly jumped up, hitting her hard in the jaw. After the blow, Mettälä said that the pain didn't subside, causing her to burst into tears, according to the paper. She called the occupational health office and filled out an accident report. The office arranged a medical check at a private healthcare provider. Mettälä was seen by a physician who referred her to a specialist because the injury seemed complicated. The specialist diagnosed her bruised ear and jaw as an impact-caused contusion. According to Mettälä, the doctor told her that such an injury was unlikely to be caused by anything other than a physical impact, although that specific conclusion was not included in her medical file. HS said it has seen the doctor's notes, which confirmed the incident had taken place. The paper also noted that the doctor also discovered that Mettälä was suffering from sinusitis. Her pain continued for some time, and she made several visits to the doctor, the paper said. Mettälä's pain eventually subsided, but then she started getting headaches in another form — bills for specialists at more than 200 euros apiece. The invoices were addressed to her personally, not to the City of Vantaa or her insurance company Pohjola. However, Pohjola has refused to pay for her medical bills because it does not consider her injury to be directly related to the incident. The insurance company's decision, according to HS, stated that Mettälä's pain and subsequent treatment was caused by her case of sinusitis as well as bruxism (teeth grinding), and not by the accident. Mettälä has appealed the insurance firm's decision, but the bills she has received are still pending. In an effort to solve the issue, Mettälä took to social media to explain the whole story, asking her followers for advice. Her story gained a good deal of attention, and her TikTok video about the matter has had more than 350,000 views — which is how Mettälä's ordeal came to the newspaper's attention. "I've thought that I'm not just looking out for my own interests here, but for many others as well. If I would just humble myself and pay my bills, the insurance companies could continue like this forever," Mettälä told the paper.
