Centre Party gets extensive funding from business

Party discloses campaign contributions of over EUR 5,000

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The Centre Party has received donations for its election campaigns in recent years by the real estate services company Nova Group, the TT Foundation of the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) as well as the controversial businessmen Kyösti Kakkonen and Toivo Sukari.
      The Centre has amassed about EUR two million in campaign donations in the past three years.
      On Monday evening, Centre Party secretary Jarmo Korhonen disclosed all donations of more than EUR 5,000 that the party had received during his time in the post.
     
Funding from the Nova Group as well as Kakkonen and Sukari was more or less public knowledge before Monday’s disclosure. New information was that the TT Foundation had donated EUR 100,000 to the Centre Party in 2007.
      Korhonen explained that the Centre Party’s fundraising association Menestyvä Suomi was set up because the TT Foundation would only agree to offer support through such an association, and not directly to a party. The contact person was the TT Foundation’s head Johannes Koroma.
     
Korhonen emphasised that the companies that contributed to the Centre Party’s campaign did not ask for any favours in return.
      He says that one reason for the companies’ generosity was a controversial television commercial produced by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) in which an actor plays a caricature of a gluttonous capitalist rejoicing in the belief that workers in Finland tend not to vote.
     
Centre Party leader Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who was reached during a trip to Iceland on Monday evening, said that he was aware of the approximate size of the election support. However, he did not know the exact sums of money involved.
      Vanhanen added that he had spoken with a representative of the TT Foundation before the donation was made, and he approved of the donation as well.
      The Prime Minister said that he hopes that other parties will follow the Centre’s lead and disclose all donations of more than EUR 5,000.
     
On Monday Vanhanen admitted that he had met managers of the Nova Group at his official Kesäranta residence in January 2007 before the elections.
      Previously he had been fairly tight-lipped about his role in arranging support payments.
      He had previously emphasised that he had not been active in soliciting donations. The meeting at Kesäranta was news to other figures in the Centre Party.
     
The Nova Group wanted to help keep the Centre Party as Finland’s largest. Nova Group director Arto Merisalo said that the group wanted Vanhanen to remain Prime Minister.
      The meeting at Kesäranta was organised at the request of the businessmen. Vanhanen recalled on Monday that the party had been promised support of about EUR 200,000.
      Vanhanen said that the meeting was “an event in which the entrepreneurs wanted to tell of their support, and how it would be given.”
      The Prime Minister seemed somewhat agitated while commenting on his party’s funding over the phone. On Friday he said that the party could not unilaterally give out the names of its supporters. The party’s executive committee came to a different conclusion at its meeting on Saturday.

More on this subject:
 SAK’s Tukiainen refutes Korhonen on TV ad claim

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prime Minister warns of political crisis stemming from election campaign money affair (21.5.2008)
  CEO of Nova Group claims Centre supports real estate company in zoning issue (30.5.2008)
  Vanhanen expects detailed report from Centre Party secretary on 2007 election funding (15.6.2009)
  Centre Party silent about major contributor (12.6.2009)

See also:
  SAK cancels controversial political television advertisements (5.3.2009)
  TT Foundation backed at least Centre and National Coalition parties (16.6.20009)

Helsingin Sanomat