Many who were considering the presidency ended up hanging around after two years, writes HS’s politics editor Robert Sundman.
When Maria Ohisalo said that after Easter he would give up the chairmanship of the Greens, journalists rushed from the press conference in the parliament’s state hall almost directly to the door of the Greens’ group room.
There, all of the members of the parliamentary group, which had shrunk to 13 members, except Ohisalo himself, the previous chairman Pekka Haavisto and a Uusimaan Tiina Elo said they were considering going to the presidential race.
We were allowed to wait for answers within a few weeks.
On Wednesday heard by Bella Forsgren “no” means that the decisions of all green MPs about starting the race have now been made.
In the end, only two of the ten thinkers decided to pursue the position of party leader. Saara Hyrkko and Sofia Virta are the party’s second-term MPs – the first from Espoo, the second from Kaarina.
The chairman will be elected at the party meeting in Seinäjoki in early June, but the greens will hold a member vote on the position. It is customary that the party meeting only “blesses” the result of the members’ vote.
In principle, more candidates could still appear in the member vote, because the deadline is next Monday, i.e. May 8. However, that now seems unlikely.
From the leadership race so in the end it was a battle of two, even though other candidates were tried to be persuaded into the race until the last meters.
Many green influencers emphasize in background discussions that it is not about the current candidates being unfit. The party’s activists only hope for a “reawakening” and “line discussion” after the massive election defeat, which the most lively competition often brings about.
The Greens received only seven percent of the votes in the April parliamentary elections, which is the party’s lowest vote share since the 1995 elections.
To the same at the time, the party’s vice-president race seems attractive.
MPs have signed up, among others Oras TynkkynenBella Forsgrén and the current vice president Hanna Holopainen.
The one who refused the presidency, as well as the current vice-president Atte Harjanne too is considering the matter.
Each of these could also have been seen as a presidential candidate. It speaks of the fact that the task of the chairman is being taken care of right now.
Would it be better to enter the race in two years, when the party that was probably headed for the opposition has got its stuff together, the party organization has recovered after the change negotiations and support has possibly started to increase?
Also a first-term Member of Parliament Fatim Diarra may eye the position of chairman in two years.
Bridge at the moment, Saara Hyrkkö can be considered at least a fine pre-favourite.
Some of the Greens question whether he is a too predictable choice or too close to the current line as he has been in the leadership positions of the party. Sofia Virta, on the other hand, is considered more outsider – but in some people’s opinion, even too outsider.
A comparison of HS’s election machine responses also offers one perspective on the race. The Greens have been feverishly considering whether the party should move a couple of points to the right after the election defeat.
Based on the election machine responses, there are two MPs from the right-wing liberal corner: Atte Harjanne and Sofia Virta.
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