Matti Vanhanen
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| Matti Taneli Vanhanen | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 24 June 2003 |
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| President | Tarja Halonen |
| Deputy | Jyrki Katainen |
| Preceded by | Anneli Jäätteenmäki |
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Member of the Parliament of Finland
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 22 March 1991 |
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| Constituency | Uusimaa |
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| In office 17 April 2003 – 24 June 2003 |
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| Prime Minister | Anneli Jäätteenmäki |
| Preceded by | Jan-Erik Enestam |
| Succeeded by | Seppo Kääriäinen |
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| Born | 4 November 1955 Jyväskylä, Finland |
| Political party | SK |
| Profession | Journalist |
Matti Taneli Vanhanen (pronunciation ) (born November 4, 1955 in Jyväskylä) is the current Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council.
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[edit] Career
Vanhanen was born in Jyväskylä, the son of the controversial professor Tatu Vanhanen, co-author of IQ and the Wealth of Nations, and Anni Tiihonen.
He has a university education in political science, having graduated as a Master of Social Sciences in 1989. In his youth he was chair of the Centre Party Youth League from 1980 to 1983. He also served as a member of Espoo city council from 1981 to 1984. Vanhanen is a journalist by profession, having worked as an editor of local newspaper Kehäsanomat 1985–1988 and editor-in-chief 1988–1991.
Vanhanen was elected as a member of Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta) in 1991. As a member of Parliament he was interested in ecological issues. For instance, Vanhanen spoke against the building of a fifth nuclear power plant in 1992, at the same time as serving on the board of electricity corporation Fortum. He served on the Parliamentary Environment Committee 1991-1995, and was chair of the Parliamentary Grand Committee 2000-2001. He was vice chair of the Centre Party Parliamentary group 1994-2001, and Deputy Chairman of the Centre Party 2000-2003.
Another important topic for Vanhanen was Finland's foreign and security policy. As a specialist on the European Union he was a member of the European Union Constitutional Convention. There he criticized the president of the convention Giscard d'Estaing as authoritarian. Vanhanen has said [1] that he is unenthusiastic about European co-operation, and that he is an "EU pragmatist", so he may be considered a eurosceptic, especially when compared to his EU-enthusiast predecessor Paavo Lipponen.
Vanhanen resigned from the Constitutional Convention in 2003 when he became Minister of Defense in the cabinet of Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki. After Jäätteenmäki's resignation, Vanhanen was elected Prime Minister.
As a politician, Vanhanen is considered to be part of the liberal wing of the old agrarian Central Party, along with the two other Party ministers from Uusimaa region. His government cut the top state income tax rate from 35.5% to 33.5% in 2005 and 32.5% in 2006 (resulting in approximately 55% total tax rate after local government and social security taxes). The corporate tax rate was also lowered to 26% and capital gains to 28% (both formerly 29%), though at the same time dividends were partially made taxable. Vanhanen has said he is willing to continue tax cuts.
[edit] Presidential candidate
As the Centre Party candidate, Vanhanen challenged President Tarja Halonen in the 2006 Finnish presidential election, but did not qualify for the runoff. He received 18.6% of the vote, coming third to the National Coalition Party's Sauli Niinistö (24.1%) and Social Democrat and incumbent Tarja Halonen (46.3%). Vanhanen expressed his support for Niinistö in the runoff election against his coalition partner's candidate Halonen.
The presidential election, and cooperation between Centre Party and National Coalition Party, proved to be a major strain on the government coalition between the Centre Party and Social Democrats. The flashpoint ca)me in March, when the Centre Party demanded national agricultural subsidies to cover farmers' losses when the Finnish exception in European Union Common Agricultural Policy was about to expire. At the end of the crisis Vanhanen told his parliamentary group that taxpayers would cover ninety percent or about 100 million euros in losses.
[edit] Vanhanen's second cabinet
After the March 2007 election the Centre Party narrowly remained largest party after losing four seats. However the coalition partner SDP lost eight seats and conservative National Coalition Party gained ten, and Vanhanen's second cabinet was formed on centre-right basis with minor partners Green League and Swedish People's Party.
Foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva of National Coalition Party was forced to resign in April 2008 after scandal involving an erotic dancer. Alexander Stubb succeeded him.
Second scandal involving Vanhanen's second cabinet started May 2008, after leader of Centre's parliamentary group Timo Kalli told publicly that he will not reveal sources of his campaign finances, because there was not punishment of such negligence. After media backlash Kalli gave up secrecy and forth came group of businessmen known as "Kehittyvien maakuntien Suomi" (KMS), who had financed mainly Centre Party and National Coalition Party candidates in 2007 elections for total sum of about 400,000 euros.
Vanhanen had publicly supported one of the businessman involved, Toivo Sukari, who sought permission to build new Ideapark shopping mall in Vihti. Also group of politicians supported granting honorary title of "Vuorineuvos" to other businessman Kyösti Kakkonen.
Centre Party links with KMS where suspected, as address of organisation belonged to the party official. It was later revealed that the organisation was formed in Centre Party's general secretary's office.
Only Green League candidate who got money from the organisation was Merikukka Forsius, who later defected to National Coalition Party. Forsius was seen going out with Vanhanen before 2007 elections.
[edit] Personality
Vanhanen has been characterised as uncharismatic and even boring, which he has attempted to turn to his advantage in tense political situations. Vanhanen is known for being a teetotaler, saying that he does not like the taste of alcohol.[1] He rarely smiles in public. He has been quoted as denying ever taking advice from other persons.[2]
Vanhanen married Merja Vanhanen 1985. They have two children: Annastiina (born 1991) and Juhana (born 1994). Matti Vanhanen and Merja Vanhanen unexpectedly announced their divorce on 6 April 2005, which has had political repercussions for the self-styled family man.
Later there were claims in the tabloid press of affairs during and after his marriage. After his divorce, Susan Kuronen was widely linked to Vanhanen [3] but their relationship broke down.[4] In February 2007, Kuronen released a tell-all book The Prime Minister's Bride, which actually boosted the prime minister's popularity with the public. Tens of thousands of Finns signed an online petition against the book and some bookstores refused to put it on the shelf.[5] Vanhanen sued Kuronen for invasion of privacy on March 2007, after closing of March elections. The Lowest Court dismissed all charges against Kuronen about year later. Vanhanen stated that he is unsatisfied with outcome and will continue the case in higher courts.
In a 2006 book commissioned for the presidential elections, Se on ihan Matti, Vanhanen compared the Finnish tabloid press to the KGB and Stasi, former Soviet Union and East German secret police agencies [6].
During the ASEM 2006 meeting in Helsinki, French president Jacques Chirac described Vanhanen, perhaps jokingly, as "the sexiest man in Finland".[7] Vanhanen is about 6'6" (198cm). He is also left-handed [2].
[edit] References
- ^ taz.de - Archiv
- ^ http://blog.anta.net/2008/05/30/five-advisors-zero-advice/
- ^ Iltalehti.fi | Viihde | 01.08.2006 | Matti Vanhanen ja Susan viihtyvät yhdessä
- ^ Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - People
- ^ My Way
- ^ MTV3 Internet >Uutiset - Kotimaa
- ^ Finland's secret weapon | The Guardian | guardian.co.uk
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (Finnish) Official site
- News and related people on NamePedia
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ursula Plassnik |
President of the European Council 2006 |
Succeeded by Frank Walter Steinmeier |
| Preceded by Anneli Jäätteenmäki |
Prime Minister of Finland 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Jan-Erik Enestam |
Minister of Defence of Finland 2003 |
Succeeded by Seppo Kääriäinen |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Vanhanen, Matti Taneli |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Finnish politician, Prime Minister of Finland |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jyväskylä, Finland |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
