Centre Party Parliamentarians react to election defeat as Parliament reconvenes

Vanhanen opposes ministerial changes

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As Parliament reconvened after its winter break, the leading government party, the Centre Party, was busy dealing with the aftermath of its defeat in the Presidential elections, in which the party's chairman, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, came in a disappointing third.
      The Party's Parliamentary group unexpectedly decided to drop MP Markku Koski from his post of First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and to replace him with Sirkka-Liisa Anttila.
      Anttila, who has previously served in the Parliament's Speaker's Council, said that the switch was linked with the aftermath of the presidential race.
     
The party's Executive Committee heard critical feedback from the rank-and-file already at its meeting on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Parliamentary group examined the situation during its first meeting of the new Parliamentary session.
      The election defeat was not the only cause for concern among Centre Party members. There have also been critical voices coming from the field concerning agricultural policy and plans to rearrange municipal structures.
      At the meeting, the Centre Party MPs decided to allow Timo Kalli to remain as the Parliamentary group's chairman, although both he and Vanhanen came under criticism for a lacklustre performance in the election campaign.
      After the meeting, Kalli said that the key problem was that unreasonable optimism was raised among supporters about what could be done.
      He also said that discussion within the Parliamentary group will continue next week.
     
Vanhanen responded to speculation of a possible reshuffle of Centre Party ministers, saying that there would be no reason for such a move.
      There have been calls within the party's Parliamentary group to replace Hannes Manninen, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and Juha Korkeaoja, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
      Vanhanen repeated his previous view, that if any changes are needed as a result of the Presidential election, he himself would be the one to go.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Centre Party Secretary first casualty of Presidential Election campaign (31.1.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat