The former CEO of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Mikael Jungner, 45, declared on Wednesday that he would be seeking the appointment of Party Secretary to the Social Democratic Party and would also be willing to run for a seat in Parliament in the Uusimaa constituency in the elections of 2011.
The position of SDP Party Secretary became vacant after the incumbent Ari Korhonen became Deputy Mayor of Turku, a role he took up from the beginning of May.
It is believed that the SDP Chairman Jutta Urpilainen has played a significant part in turning Jungner's head, and that she plans to use her authority as party leader to ensure he is elected, although at least two other candidates have put their names forward for the election to be held at the end of this month.
Jungner served one five-year term at the head of the national public broadcaster, but was replaced by Lauri Kivinen, who took up the CEO's job from the beginning of May.
Prior to his involvement with YLE - where he oversaw the improvement of the company's financial position but ran into conflict with sections of the commercial media through YLE's forays into producing free Internet content - Jungner worked as an executive for Microsoft, and he has also served as the Parliamentary secretary and aide to a number of Social Democrat ministers, including the former Prime Minister and SDP Chairman Paavo Lipponen.
