Garden Helsinki funding scandal deepens as Orpo faces confidence vote demand, opposition calls for resignation, and project admits lobbying violations

The controversy surrounding the government’s decision to grant €35 million in conditional support to the Garden Helsinki multi-purpose arena project continues to escalate, with opposition parties intensifying their criticism of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (National Coalition Party) and his party’s handling of the affair. The Chancellor of Justice has now received 22 complaints regarding the matter, marking a record for such submissions in a single case (Ilta-Sanomat). Tytti Tuppurainen, chair of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) parliamentary group, has demanded that Orpo deliver a thorough statement to Parliament, accusing him of providing false and inconsistent information about the project’s financing and employment impacts (Ilta-Sanomat). The opposition has now gone further, with some MPs calling for Orpo’s resignation over his handling of the scandal (Ilta-Sanomat, Yle). SDP Chair Antti Lindtman has demanded that the Garden Helsinki decision be brought back to the government for reconsideration, stating that "confidence in the government’s and the Prime Minister’s actions is severely shaken" in a post on his Instagram account. Lindtman also called for the Speaker to convene Parliament as soon as possible to allow Orpo to provide a full explanation of the decision-making process (Ilta-Sanomat). MTV Uutiset reports that the opposition has also demanded the government’s resignation and the convening of Parliament during the summer recess.