Urpilainen becomes SDP presidential candidate, stepping aside from European Commission | News
Former finance minister Jutta Urpilainen (SDP) announced her candidacy on Sunday in Tampere. Her decision has been long-awaited, as the presidential race has been in full swing for months.
After a long period of consideration, European Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen announced on Sunday that she will stand as the SDP’s presidential candidate.
“A red-green woman committed to European and international partners can fit [into this election campaign] alongside the right-wing and centre-right men,” Urpilainen said, announcing her candidacy at an SDP party council meeting in Tampere.
Urpilainen said that the central theme of her campaign would be “no one left behind”. She added that employees’ rights must be assured, not just those of corporations.
However, Finnish presidents have little say in such domestic issues. The powers of the office have been shrunk in recent decades, leaving the head of state primarily in charge of overseeing foreign relations – though EU matters are steered by the prime minister and government.
According to Urpilainen, Finland must also work to ensure that no one is left behind globally. Poverty, the state of the climate and inequality are issues related to the destiny of humanity, which must be dealt with through a commitment with the “global south”, she said.
Within the EU, Finland must promote the principles of the rule of law. For example, Urpilainen expressed concern about the state of democracy in member states such as Hungary and Poland.
Urpilainen: Timetable set by Commission
Urpilainen said that the timetable for her candidacy was determined by the European Commission. She has been European Commissioner for International Partnerships since late 2019. Urpilainen, 48, led the SDP from 2008 to 2014, serving as finance minister in 2011-14.
She will be on election leave from her EU position from 2 December, which will mark the official start of her campaign. That is just over six weeks before advance voting begins on 17 January. Finland’s 13th president is to take office in early March.
Urpilainen’s decision has been long expected, while the presidential race has been in full swing for months. The SDP’s current and former chairs, Antti Lindtman and Sanna Marin, had encouraged Urpilainen to run since last summer.
In the most recent Yle presidential poll, Urpilainen’s support remained modest.
According to the survey conducted by Taloustutkimus, only four percent of all survey respondents would vote for Urpilainen in the first round of the presidential election.
According to this survey, 45 percent of the SDP supporters who expressed a position said they would vote for Pekka Haavisto (Green), 16 percent for Alexander Stubb (NCP) and only 13 percent for Urpilainen. Olli Rehn (Cen) would get 10 percent of SDP supporters’ votes.
Urpilainen said that she was not daunted by the distance behind the other candidates in the polls.
“There are 70 days ahead. Everything that needs to be said will be said in time. We’ll run a campaign that will be noticed,” she vowed.
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