Paavo Lipponen resigns as Social Democratic Party Leader

- Successor question remains open

Finland’s Speaker of Parliament Paavo Lipponen has announced that he would withdraw from the leadership of the Social Democratic Party after holding the post as SDP chairman for 12 years. Lipponen made his announcement at a meeting of the Social Democratic Party Council in Helsinki on Wednesday 9th of March in the morning saying that he would stay as party leader until the SDP Congress in Jyväskylä in June. In his speech, Lipponen touched upon foreign policy, saying that practically speaking, a consensus on the issue prevails in Finland. He said that not even the opposition National Coalition Party is pushing for NATO membership right now - although he characterised the views of the party’s chairman Jyrki Katainen on the issue as "first thing Monday"."If you propose that we should prepare to give consideration to joining sometime in the next electoral term, you might sound courageous, but not particularly forceful," Lipponen said.

He reiterated his view that Finland should hold on to the common line, according to which Finland has a so-called option to decide on this matter according to national interests." We remain militarily non-allied, but there is no reason to make noise about non-allied status. In today’s world, and as a member of the EU, the functional value of being non-allied is not very great", Lipponen argued.

Successor unannounced At Monday’s meeting there was a reluctance to discuss who Lipponen’s successor might be. MP Arja Alho is so far the only announced candidate for the post. No others threw their hats in the ring on Wednesday. However, announcements could be expected soon. The SDP’s women’s organisation wants Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov to candidate for the post. However, on Wednesday she would only say that her candidacy "is not completely ruled out".

Party Secretary Eero Heinäluoma has been widely seen as the favourite to succeed Lipponen. On Wednesday he would only say that he is thinking about it, and that he would make his views public soon. Also deferring a decision was Minister of Justice Johannes Koskinen, while Finance Minister Antti Kalliomäki says that he has made his decision, but has yet to write down the reasons for it. Observers believe that Kalliomäki will not seek the SDP leadership, and that Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will also stay out of the race.

CG