Saarikko elected Keskusta chair

Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) leader Annika Saarikko was elected the chairperson of the party in a party council in Oulu on Saturday.

Minister of Science and Culture Saarikko beat the incumbent Chair Katri Kulmuni by 1,157 votes to 773 in the first round of the election in which a total of 2,264 delegates cast votes.

Among the three other candidates, Petri Honkonen got 308 votes, Ilkka Tiainen got 22 votes, and Jari Tasanen bagged four votes in the election.

Saarikko, a 36-year-old leader, has been serving as a lawmaker since 2011. In her introductory speech as the chairperson-elect, she said the party and the country still need the outgoing chair Kulmuni.

The voting was held maintaining social distancing at the congress hall in Oulu and at 15 other places across the country, as the organisers limited the number of participants at the main venue.

Kulmuni was elected party chair last year, but her situation in the party became vulnerable after she had resigned from the post of finance minister on 5 June following a controversy raised over a service procurement of about EUR 50,000 from a communications consultancy firm.

Keskusta is the second largest component of the five-party ruling alliance.

Meanwhile, Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party), the second largest opposition party in parliament on Saturday re-elected Petteri Orpo as the party chair unopposed in a party council held in Pori.