Live broadcast | Ohisalo: “You can’t get this done by staring at your own navel” – the party meeting of the Greens is underway

Policy|Live broadcast

Green chooses his new leader at the party meeting starting today in Seinäjoki.

The candidates for the new chairman are MPs from the second term Sofia Virta and Saara Hyrkko.

The current chairman Maria Ohisalo announced after a significant election loss two months ago that he would not seek another term as party leader. He managed to lead the party for four years.

Ohisalo opened the party meeting with his last speech as chairman. Ohisalo emphasized in his speech that the Greens must now look for solutions to the support gap.

“Now is the time to move on from numerous analyses. the gaze must be turned from the mirror to the rest of the world, and look for solutions. now we shouldn’t think about how we gather the greens together, but how we gather the Finns. Staring at one’s own navel won’t get this done.”

Ohisalo also thanked the work done in the party.

“This is the movement that, after the election defeat, got together even excitedly to gather answers to the government’s whistleblower. This is the team that looks in the mirror after a loss.”

Ohisalo cited the family freedom reform, free secondary education, updating the translation law, the new nature protection law, the climate law and joining NATO among the successes of the government.

Government also implemented social security reform, but it is not perfect, Ohisalo said.

“There are problems in the mental health services for young people, the overcrowding of emergency rooms, as well as in child protection and care for the elderly.”

Government negotiations are currently taking place at Säätytalo between the coalition, Basic Finns, Rkp and Christian Democrats. The Greens are therefore apparently going to the opposition.

In his speech, Ohisalo criticized the politics of the parties conducting government negotiations.

“Nursing shortage, engineer shortage, waiter shortage, coder shortage. We lack so many workers in this country that we could once again talk about a “time of shortage”. And what do the parties negotiating at Säätytalo do? They are trying to invent new obstacles to work-based immigration.”

According to Ohisalo, Finland should aim for 150,000 new jobs by 2030.

Ohisalo said he was also worried about the future government’s EU policy. The EU can jointly speed up green investments, and according to Ohisalo, Finland must be at the forefront of this work.

“If things are not done on an EU-wide basis, the big member countries will prefer their own companies, and Finland will be left out of investments. It means that a job will be created in Hamburg instead of Hamina and in Rotterdam instead of Rauma.”

Only one of the three vice-presidents is applying for a further term in his position. Congressman Hanna Holopainen is running for re-election against seven other candidates. Members of parliament, for example, are also seeking a place Bella Forsgren and Oras Tynkkynen and a former Member of Parliament Mari Holopainen.

After the last party meeting, who became the leader of the parliamentary group Atte Harjanne leave the position of vice president. On the other hand, Iiris Suomela, who dropped out of Parliament, is seeking to become the chairman of the party council together with five other candidates.

Also the current party secretary Brother Liikanen leave its place. There are four candidates for the position.

Read more: The Greens’ presidential race is expected to be even – This is how four well-known Greens justify their choice

According to advance information, the selection of new management personnel can be made from 12:40 p.m. Then the result of the members’ vote on the new chairman will be revealed, which the party meeting is expected to respect. More than 4,700 members of the Green Party voted on the matter.

At Sunday’s meeting, the new chairman’s first policy speech will be heard, in addition to which the party will outline its participation in next year’s presidential elections. Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (vihr) is going to the elections as a candidate of the voters’ association, but the party is expected to decide whether to support him.

In the parliamentary elections held two months ago, the Greens were the party that lost the most supporters. The Greens got more than 136,000 fewer votes than four years ago, which was a drop of more than a third. A third of MP seats also disappeared, and 13 Greens sit in the new parliament.

Read more: The Greens’ presidential race is expected to be even – This is how four well-known Greens justify their choice

Correction at 10:04: The story said earlier that Mari Holopainen would be a Member of Parliament. However, Holopainen is a former MP.