Vapaavuori bags highest votes in municipality polls

Jan Vapaavuori, a Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party) politician and multiple cabinet minister, has made history in Sunday's local election. He won 29547 votes, the highest ever personal backing for a local council seat in Finland.

He was the mayoral-designate of the Kokoomus, one component of the three-party alliance government. The personal catch by Vapaavuori helped the Kokoomus to attain national success as the most popular party despite losses in other cities.

The election in Helsinki did not involve a direct mayoral vote, but the largest party can nominate the mayor and Vapaavuori was advertised as a would-be mayor. In the election in Helsinki, the party got 28 percent of the capital vote and the runner-up Vihreä Liitö (Green League) got 24 percent. In practice, the greens were four percentage points from reaching the mayoralty.

Vapaavuori, a 52-year-old lawyer, returns now to Finland from duties as Vice President of the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. He is supposed to take the position as the Mayor of Helsinki in June.

So far, the mayor of Helsinki has been a civil servant appointed for a term of seven years. Even though the previous mayors have had political color, they have often been seen as representatives of the municipal administration rather than their original parties. Vapaavuori is almost certain to be elected by the new council as the first political mayor of Helsinki.

In early statements, Vapaavuori underlined the need to defend the interests of major cities in Finland, mainly Helsinki, but also others. On the Finnish political scene, the ruling Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party) has traditionally defended rural and regional interests, while the Kokoomus and the Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) have been urban minded.

Vapaavuori also said he would continue opposing the plans to build a major mosque in Helsinki. "I will work against the idea, but the final decision is with the city council," he said.

As reported earlier by Xinhua, plans to build a major mosque with Middle Eastern financing to complement the existing array of small mosques has split the Finnish political scene. The Green candidate for mayor Anni Sinnemaki did not oppose the plan.

In 2014, Vapaavuori failed in running for the chairmanship of the Kokoomus. He had been largely seen as the candidate of the party elite, but the convention in Lahti chose Alexander Stubb, who was later dropped by the party and replaced by Petteri Orpo.