Sipilä to shun next parliamentary polls

Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) lawmaker and former Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has decided to not run in any parliamentary polls from next term, reported a Finnish language local newspaper Rantalekaus.

“I have decided that I would not contest in the next parliamentary polls,” Sipilä, who has been leading the Keskusta for seven years, told the newspaper, adding that three parliamentary terms as a lawmaker is enough for him and now it is the time for him to look for something else.

The tenure of the present parliament will end in 2023.

Sipilä, a politician with a background in business and a resident of Kempele, near Oulu, was elected lawmaker in 2011 for the first time and became the chairman of the Keskusta in 2012.

He became the prime minister in 2015 and the led the three-party alliance government consisted of the Suomen Keskusta, the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) and the populist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party).

Sipilä said he will return to north Ostrobothnia and live with his family in Kempele after quitting the parliamentary politics.