Defeated parties report surge of new members
Greens consider leadership change - Centre examines prospects for revival
Anni Sinnemäki
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Ville Niinistö
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Oras Tynkkynen
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Timo Kalli
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Mari Kiviniemi
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The Green League, which saw the number of its seats in Parliament drop from 15 to 10 in Sunday’s elections, reports a surge in new party memberships. In the past two days more than 800 people have signed up as new members of the Greens.
“It is wonderful news which suggests that many want to do something more on behalf of green values and goals than previously. It is a good sign of a new beginning”, wrote Green League chairwoman Anni Sinnemäki in her blog.
The Left alliance, which lost three seats in Parliament, has also reported getting new members from the final days of the election campaign. On Tuesday, the number of people joining the party exceeded 500.
“The slight setback in the elections has given the spark to doing something themselves", says Left Alliance party secretary Sirpa Puhakka.
The big winners of the election, the True Finns, report that the party’s youth organisation has taken in 400 new members in two days.
The Green League is considering a change in leadership. Chairwoman Anni Sinnemäki would not yet say on Tuesday if she would seek another term when the party holds its congress in June.
“After such a big defeat, it is natural for the chair to take stock of the situation.”
Sinnemäki says that she will give her decision next week.
Green Parlaiamentary group chair Ville Niinistö considers his candidacy “possible”, but he first wants to hear Sinnemäki’s intentions.
Another name that has come up as a possible chairman for the party is MP Oras Tynkkynen. He is also waiting to hear what Sinnemäki has to say before commenting on the matter.
In Sunday’s Parliamentary elections the Greens got approximately as many votes as they did in the previous elections in 2007, but the overall rise in the election turnout led to the loss of five seats.
Sinnemäki has not been blamed for the poor outcome. The focus of debate within the party has been on the Greens’ identity, which is seen to be somewhat vague.
“We have lost votes in three directions – to the left and the right, and some Green supporters abstained from voting”, Sinnemäki admits. She says that losing votes to both the National Coalition Party and the Left Alliance suggests vagueness in articulating the party’s policy line.
“There are probably many reasons for the election defeat, but I believe that government cooperation with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party alienated many voters”, Sinnemäki wrote in her blog on Tuesday.
In some Green post-election commentary, the party has been faulted as having been “too nice”. According to one anonymous commentator, “The National Coalition Party stole tolerance from us, and the Left Alliance stole justice, and we just stood on the side.”
The Centre Party is also examining its options in the wake of its defeat.
“Now we can promote Centre Party policies”, says Timo Kalli, who has served as the chairman of the party’s Parliamentary group for the past eight years.
Party chairwoman Mari Kiviniemi reiterated on Tuesday that the Centre’s unequivocal view is that the party will go into opposition. Kalli seems relieved by the prospect that he will no longer need to persuade other Centre Party MPs to support compromises with the other government parties.
Kalli continues his analysis of the party’s role in the outgoing government.
“The impression that was left was that those who are in a better position economically were the ones to benefit from the previous economic rise. We were not able to sufficiently distinguish ourselves from the National Coalition Party.”
Mari Kiviniemi, meanwhile, says that nobody has been calling for her resignation in the wake of the election defeat. She says that she is committed to chairing the party for the long haul.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 20.4.2011 - TODAY |
 Defeated parties report surge of new members |
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