Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s (SDP) State Secretary Mikko Koskinen has announced that he is resigning his position for family reasons.
In a Facebook post, Koskinen said that he made the decision after a difficult period of reflection and added that the last few years have been the most "interesting time" of his career.
Koskinen wrote that his son was born in February, but due to the demands of his role as state secretary he was unable to spend much time at home in the early months.
In addition, he said that he has not been able to spend enough time with his school-age children.
"I came to the conclusion that children need their father and a father needs his children more than has been possible, especially while working as a state secretary during this coronavirus period. The decision was extremely difficult, but it is the right one for me and my family," he wrote.
Koskinen had been on parental leave since the autumn but he was due to return to his position on 17 January.
He has previously served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Communications when Marin was minister, and also as the Head of Political Planning for the Social Democratic Party.
