Finland's governing Center Party elects new female leader _ expected to become prime minister

Published November 17, 2014

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland's governing Center Party elected a young woman as its new leader on Saturday, hoping to reunite the party and reverse the trend of waning support ahead of next year's parliamentary election.

Mari Kiviniemi, 41, the minister responsible for municipal affairs, also is expected to be named prime minister next week when Matti Vanhanen resigns.

She defeated veteran centrist politician Mauri Pekkarinen, 62, the economic affairs minister, in a second round of voting 1,357 to 1,035.

Center Party voters chose Kiviniemi to replace Vanhanen, who has been party chairman since 2003. He led the Center Party to election victory that year and formed his first coalition, followed by another election triumph four years later that gave him a new, center-right coalition.

But pressure on Vanhanen to step aside has grown since 2008 after steamy tabloid articles about his love life, widely reported lawsuits over a kiss-and-tell book by a former girlfriend, and his alleged involvement in a political funding scandal.

In December, the 54-year-old Vanhanen announced he will not seek re-election as party leader because he would need time to recover from a leg operation later this year.

The youthful Kiviniemi, who has not been implicated in funding irregularities that have torn the party, said the centrists were looking for change.

"I firmly believe that they (voters) wanted to look into the future, and therefore they gave the burden of responsibility to the younger generation," Kiviniemi said after the vote. "A new person always brings something new ... and I want to reunite the party."

Vanhanen, who made his departing speech at the party congress, conceded that he had been unable to unite the party. He said the past seven years had taken its toll on him, and he expressed deep disappointment over tensions in the ranks.

"It really is very upsetting to see that within the party there are divisions, criticism, disagreement and bad feelings," Vanhanen said.

The Center Party, as the largest member in the four-party coalition, holds the prime minister's chair, which will go to Kiviniemi when Vanhanen hands in his resignation, expected on Friday.

Kiviniemi said she would not change government policy before elections in April, but added that the coalition would continue to focus on the economy and high unemployment.

Kiviniemi, who has a degree in politics, has been a lawmaker since 1995. She was appointed minister of public administration and local government in 2005.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/world/finlands-governing-center-party-elects-new-female-leader-_-expected-to-become-prime-minister