Anu Vehviläinen to become Speaker of Parliament

The Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) on Monday nominated Anu Vehviläinen as the Speaker of parliament to replace Matti Vanhanen.

The parliamentary group of the party made the nomination at a meeting in the evening following nomination of Vanhanen as the new finance minister of the country, party sources said.

Lawmakers in parliament are scheduled to vote on Tuesday to elect the new speaker.

Earlier, in the morning, the executive committee and the parliamentary group of the party unanimously nominated Vanhanen, also a former prime minister and chief of the party to replace the outgoing Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni.

Kulmuni resigned from the post of finance minister cum deputy prime minister on Friday following a controversy raised over a service procurement of about EUR 50,000 from a communications consultancy firm.

Anu Vehviläinen, a lawmaker from Joensuu served as a minister twice in the past.

The 56-year-old lawmaker served as minister of local government and public reforms from 2015 to 2019, as well as served as transport minister for a brief period last year.

The changes in the government and parliament came as Kulmuni resigned on Friday following a police investigationinto Kulmuni’s procurement of services from the private consulting company Tekir which cost about 50,000 euros.

The company, Tekir, operated by communications consultant Harri Saukkomaa, coached Kulmuni in speeches, public appearances and one-on-one interviews.