Paavo Väyrynen announces bid for Centre Party leadership

Centre Party headed for bitter struggle as honorary chairman and former leader refuses to leave the stage

Paavo Väyrynen

print this

Paavo Väyrynen never ceases to spring surprises.
      As Parliament returned from its winter recess on Tuesday, suddenly all the media attention was turned to the former Centre Party chairman and Foreign Minister's snap press conference, where Väyrynen, fresh from a strong performance in the presidential elections, declared he would challenge the Centre's chairperson Mari Kiviniemi at this summer's party congress in Rovaniemi.
      The eurosceptic veteran's announcement came as a complete surprise to the Centre Party's pro-European city liberal wing, and whilst Väyrynen himself felt that the recent campaign had freshened him up, the impending battle is likely to cause grey hairs and a deep rift in the party ranks, only months before crucial municipal elections.
     
Paavo Väyrynen is 65, was a cabinet minister already in the era of President Urho Kekkonen in the 1970s, and he led the Centre Party for a decade in the 1980s, but he clearly has no intention of withdrawing to take up the role of some monumental honorary chairman or emeritus professor.
      Buoyed by his showing in the first round of the presidential election, where he narrowly failed to progress to a runoff against Sauli Niinistö and improved the Centre Party showing relative to the dismal display at the Parliamentary elections of April 2011, Väyrynen is now throwing down the gauntlet towards the party leadership.
     
The failure of last year, which sent the Centre Party hurtling into opposition, was a bitter pill for all to swallow, but of late the party chair Mari Kiviniemi has been more active in challenging the government.
      The upcoming municipal reforms, hugely unpopular with many Centre Party core voters, were thought to be a good platform for a recovery of the Centre's fortunes in local elections in the autumn, but now more discord seems to be in prospect, along with a bitter leadership battle.
     
Even though he finished third, Väyrynen ran a very impressive presidential campaign, collecting half a million votes and effectively saving the party's face as he trounced the other eurosceptic in the field, the Finns Party's Timo Soini.
      The Centre Party leadership would not initially have wished for anything less than having Väyrynen back in the fray on their behalf, but they recognised his credentials as a magnet for anti-European sentiments within the country and ultimately supported his campaign and enjoyed the obvious lift in the polls that he gave them.
      Political analysts commented at the time that Väyrynen would not merely smile broadly at his success, but would require some form of recompense.
      Nevertheless, clearly the Centre's leaders underestimated the degree to which he intended to put the cat among the pigeons.
      Only last week, they agreed to fund a trip around the country by the party veteran to drum up candidates for the municipal elections, without realising that at the same time Väyrynen would in fact be drumming up support for his own bid to retake the leadership.
     
Mari Kiviniemi commented on Tuesday that she would be seeking a new mandate, and hence a battle royal is in prospect between the city liberal Kiviniemi and the diehard eurosceptic Väyrynen, with other players possibly joining in, including MPs Tuomo Puumala and Kimmo Tiilikainen.
      Another Centre Party veteran and ex-minister Mauri Pekkarinen has said he will show his hand in the matter only later in the spring.
      Party secretary Timo Laaninen sighed that it would be an "interesting" spring ahead, and said that he would announce his own intentions about continuing in the job in March.
      This position, too, could have several takers when the June party congress comes around.
     
Paavo Väyrynen served as the Centre Party's chairman from 1980 to 1990, and then sought re-election without success in 2002 and in 2010 (when he was soundly beaten by Kiviniemi).
      He now clearly believes he has got the wind in his sails once more.
      True to his new joking style, which caused amusement and some consternation during the recent election (was he developing a sense of self-irony after all these years?), Väyrynen commented on Tuesday that defeat in the presidential campaign had one good side: it would not require him to surrender his party membership card.
      Now the man from Keminmaa has a clear game-plan - victory in the party congress in Rovaniemi in June, an election triumph in the municipal elections under his watch, and a return to the Centre's position of largest party in the country at the Parliamentary elections of 2015, when he would be installed as Prime Minister, one of the few posts he has yet to hold.
      Fasten your seat belts.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Centre Party chooses Paavo Väyrynen as presidential candidate (9.9.2011)
  If Lapland were independent, Paavo Väyrynen would be President...(24.1.2012)

See also:
  COMMENTARY: Another Väyrynen sequel (26.1.2010)

Links:
  Paavo Väyrynen (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat