Finland's legislature advances bill on indigenous Sámi parliament

The Finnish Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee has given its green light to a government bill on the indigenous Sámi Parliament. The committee did not call for any major changes to the cabinet proposal, which has already been approved by the Sámi Parliament itself. The committee's alterations do not affect the key points of the proposal. These include the contentious issue of who has the right to be on the electoral roll to vote in Sámi Parliament elections. "This is a historic bill that has failed in the previous three parliamentary terms, regardless of the government configuration," committee chair Heikki Vestman (NCP) said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. The committee proposed two relatively minor technical amendments to bring the proposal into line with the Finnish Constitution. They concern appeals from people who have applied to be included in the electoral roll.
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