Parliamentary Speaker responds to accusations of nuclear lobbying

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Finland’s Speaker of Parliament Paavo Lipponen (SDP) has responded to accusations made by Green MP Heidi Hautala on a speech he made in January in which he endorsed the use of nuclear energy.
      On Monday, Hautala said that Lipponen had abused his position as Speaker of Parliament to promote the interests of the European nuclear energy industry. As evidence, Hautala put forward extracts from speech Lipponen made in Warsaw, which were very similar to statements made by the pro-nuclear energy group Foratom.
      In a statement issued on Tuesday, Lipponen did not directly respond to the accusations of misuse of his official position. Instead, he challenged Hautala to identify any factual errors that the extracts quoted by the Greens might contain.
     
Lipponen said that Hautala did not even try to discuss the content of the speech, preferring instead to use Foratom as a way to discredit him.
      "Foratom might be a criminal organisation on the Greens’ scale, but for myself and the European Union it is an organisation of experts, whose information can be freely disputed."
      Lipponen mentioned that in preparating his speeches he has used material from Foratom, as well as many other organisations and officials.
      He said that these include the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the international economic cooperation organisations, the OECD and G8.
      On Tuesday evening, Lipponen told Helsingin Sanomat that he had been prepared to clear up the matter at Tuesday’s meeting of the Speaker’s Council, but was surprised that nobody took up the subject.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Green MPs accuse Speaker of Parliament of misusing his position (6.2.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat