Party meetings|Annika Saariko is being replaced by Antti Kaikkonen, whose task is to stop the slide in support.
Center change the chairman at the party meeting in Jyväskylä starting on Friday. Led the party since 2020 Annika Saarikko is giving way, and a long-time member of parliament and the defense minister of the last government is being elected in his place Antti Kaikkonen.
In his opening speech of the meeting on Friday afternoon, Saarikko sent his greetings to the coalition and Rkp, who are also holding their party meetings this weekend.
According to Saariko, with the EU election, the coalition’s influence and influence in Finnish politics is undeniable, especially in foreign and security policy.
“The people don’t vote wrong. I want to underline that. But it’s still good to understand that the hegemony of one party is not a very strong condition in a democracy in the long run,” said Saarikko.
According to him, the center needs to challenge the coalition even more strongly.
There was a spike in the Rkp’s direction regarding the government’s cooperation with basic Finns. Saarikko reminded that Rkp belongs to the same center group in the EU Parliament as the centre.
“You have to stand on the right side of history. On the side of humanity, the rule of law and future generations. Above all, on the side of peace and Ukraine. A solid movement, the middle power party will not falter in the face of these,” said Saarikko.
Basic Finns were not even mentioned in the speech, even when Saarikko spoke Petteri Orpon (kok) government policy. The sights were now on the assembly.
The center the chairman election is on Saturday. In addition to Kaikkonen, there is another candidate in the election, a member of parliament for the second term Tuomas Kettunenbut his chances are slim next to the popular Kaikkonen.
The center’s support has been on a steady slide in recent years. The presidential election was a small glimmer of joy when the centrist candidate Olli Rehn got more than 15 percent of the votes in the first round and almost 500,000 voters behind him.
In the EU elections held a week ago, the center considered the fact that the current two MEP seats were already an achievement. However, support fell from the previous EU elections to 11.8 percent. Saarikko said in his speech that this provided “enough hard ground underfoot”.
In the first regional elections held in 2022, the center was the third largest with 19.2 percent support. Next year, the regional elections will be again, now at the same time as the municipal elections.
In the last parliamentary elections, the support of the center was 11.3 percent, with which the party remained popular with the opposition. In the center, it is now widely considered a mistake that the opposition did not go to the opposition in the previous election period, when the party left despite the election loss Antti Rinne (sd) and Sanna Marini (sd) to the board.
New in addition to the chairman, the party will vote on Saturday for vice-chairmen, of which there are several available. MPs have run for office Vesa KallioMember of Parliament and current Vice President Hilkka Kemppiex-MP Joonas KönttäMember of Parliament and current Vice President Markus Lohihead of the city center’s women’s organization Päivi Mononen-Mikkilä and an entrepreneur Petri Roininen. You can also register at the meeting place.
Annika Saariko’s political review is also on Saturday, her kind of farewell speech. Saarikko is expecting a child and will return to parliament after maternity leave.
The new chairman will give his policy speech at the end of the meeting on Sunday.
Director elections in addition, the meeting is full of other decision matters. The center will initiate the renewal of the principle program and start preparing for next year’s municipal and regional elections.
In addition, the Suunta Suomelle program paper is being processed, which is aimed at the 2027 parliamentary elections.
In addition, more than 300 party meeting initiatives by member associations are being processed, where the party decides its line on various current issues. There have been a lot of them, especially from social and health issues, but there are also initiatives that question the internal emphasis of the center.
The party’s women’s associations have received many questions with the same content about the distribution bases of the funding reserved for women’s activities. After the defeat in the parliamentary elections, the center made a change in which half of the money for women’s activities, i.e. 2.5 percent, was transferred to be distributed through the party’s district organizations, whereas previously it had gone directly to the women’s organization.
In addition to the change in the allocation criteria, less money is also allocated to women’s activities, which has tightened the atmosphere. The party support received by the center decreased by a total of 1.5 million euros annually after the 2023 parliamentary elections.
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