Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) did not want to say anything on Wednesday on matters related to the police investigation into funding received by his 2006 Presidential election campaign group.
Vanhanen said in a statement issued by an aide that he would comment on the matter at 6:40 Friday morning at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Vanhanen has just concluded an official visit to Indonesia.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects that key figures in Vanhanen’s Presdiential campaign organisation may have misused their positions of trust.
The officials confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat that the investigation had expanded to encompass the Kansainvälinen Suomi (“International Finland”) association, which was behind the campaign.
One focal point of the investigation is the youth housing foundation Nuorisosäätiö, which appears to have violated its own regulations by giving financial backing to the Vanhanen campaign.
Many prominent Centre Party figures held high positions in both Kansainvälinen Suomi and Nuorisosäätiö.
Helsingin Sanomat reported on Wednesday that Centre Party MPs had a key role in the fundraising activities of Kansainvälinen Suomi, selling artwork and seminar tickets for a commission, which went to benefit their own election campaigns. There is nothing illegal in this, and it is a very common way to raise money for elections.
The campaign association of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre) was on the list of groups to get funding. Anttila gave further details on Wednesday. “My campaign organisation sold two tickets to a seminar, getting 150 euros for each of them, a total of 300 euros, which was disclosed in my election funding declaration.”
