Petteri Orpo

Antti Petteri Orpo (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑntːi ˈpetːeri ˈorpo]; born 3 November 1969) is a Finnish politician and member of the Finnish parliament, who serves as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2017 to 2019, Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2019, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry from 2014 to 2015 and Minister of Interior from 2015 to 2016.[1][2] On 2 April 2023, Orpo's National Coalition Party won the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election, with a plurality of 20.8% and winning 48 seats. Orpo garnered over 17,000 votes in his district. Orpo is set to be named the lead government formation negotiator and prime minister candidate when the new parliament and President convene shortly after the election.[3]

Petteri Orpo
Orpo in 2023
33rd Deputy Prime Minister of Finland
In office
28 June 2017 – 6 June 2019
Prime MinisterJuha Sipilä
Preceded byTimo Soini
Succeeded byMika Lintilä
Minister of Finance
In office
22 June 2016 – 6 June 2019
Prime MinisterJuha Sipilä
Preceded byAlexander Stubb
Succeeded byMika Lintilä
Leader of the National Coalition Party
Assumed office
11 June 2016
Preceded byAlexander Stubb
Minister of the Interior
In office
29 May 2015 – 22 June 2016
Prime MinisterJuha Sipilä
Preceded byPäivi Räsänen
Succeeded byPaula Risikko
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
In office
24 June 2014 – 29 May 2015
Prime MinisterAlexander Stubb
Preceded byJari Koskinen
Succeeded byKimmo Tiilikainen
Member of the Parliament of Finland
Assumed office
27 March 2007
Personal details
Born
Antti Petteri Orpo

(1969-11-03) 3 November 1969
Köyliö, Satakunta, Finland
Political partyNational Coalition
SpouseNiina Kanniainen-Orpo
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Turku (MA)

Early life and education

Antti Petteri Orpo was born on 3 November 1969 in Köyliö, Finland.[4] His father, Hannu Orpo, was a politician and member of the National Coalition party.[5] He passed the Finnish matriculation exams and graduated from Köyliön lukio. Later Orpo earned a master's degree in political sciences from the University of Turku. Orpo attended Finland's mandatory national armed service and became a reserve officer. His current reserve rank is captain.[4]

Political career

Minister of the Interior
Orpo (right) with Nikos Xydakis in February 2016

During his tenure as Minister of the Interior, Orpo received support for his handling of the 2015 migration crisis from coalition partners in the anti-immigration Finns Party, as well as from opposition lawmakers.[6]

Minister of Finance

In May 2016, Orpo announced that he would challenge the chair of the National Coalition Party and incumbent Minister of Finance Alexander Stubb in June's party conference.[7] At the time, Orpo joined second-term parliamentarian Elina Valtonen in seeking to replace Stubb.[8] In contrast to polyglot and outspoken Stubb, Orpo was widely seen as a careful consensus-seeker with little experience of international politics.[9] Orpo received 441,4 votes against Stubb's 361 and was thus elected as the new chair for the party.[10] Orpo soon announced that he would take Stubb's seat as the Minister of Finance.[11] He was officially appointed as the Minister of Finance on 22 June 2016.[12]

In June 2017, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Orpo announced said they could not cooperate with their parties' third coalition partner, the Finns Party, anymore, citing differences in core values and in the immigration and EU policies. For both Sipilä and Orpo, at stake were major healthcare and local government reform, which were key to their plan to balance public finances.[13]

In addition to his national political roles, Orpo co-chaired (alongside Valdis Dombrovskis) the EPP Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers Meeting, which gathers the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) ministers ahead of meetings of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).[14]

Opposition politics

In December 2019 Orpo attempted a vote of no-confidence in the incumbent government.[15] This would then cause new elections, which Orpo hoped on winning. The incumbent government was accused of malpractice in responding to problems in the labor market. Later, Prime Minister Antti Rinne resigned, and Kulmuni publicly refused to join the National Coalition Party's plan of premature elections.[16]

Winning the 2023 parliamentary elections

On 2 April 2023, Orpo's National Coalition Party won the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election. The party had led the polls since mid-2021 and finished first, with 20.8% of the votes and 48 seats in the parliament, increasing their total by 10 seats.[17] This was the party's third highest result in its history.[18] Orpo will begin government formation talks when the new parliament and President convene the week after Easter and will name him as the lead negotiator.[19]

Orpo campaigned on a platform of reducing Finland's government debt and the yearly budget deficit as well as reducing income taxes. He defines himself as a "fiscal conservative" [18]

Other activities

European Union organizations

International organizations

References
  1. "Räty, Orpo and Toivakka take over ministerial portfolios". Helsinki Times. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. "Sipilä's Government appointed". Finnish Government. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  3. "Tulospalvelu | Eduskuntavaalit 2023 | Iltalehti". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. "Petteri Orpo". Eduskunta.
  5. "Finland's conservative leader Orpo set to become Prime Minister". France 24. 2 April 2023.
  6. Tuomas Forsell (4 May 2016), Finnish finance minister faces new challenge as party leader Reuters.
  7. "Orpo haastaa Stubbin kokoomuksen puheenjohtajakisassa – Harkimo Ylelle: En lähde kisaan, koska Orpo on paras vaihtoehto". Helsingin sanomat. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  8. Tuomas Forsell (4 May 2016), Finnish finance minister faces new challenge as party leader Reuters.
  9. Jussi Rosendahl (22 June 2016), Finland's Finance Minister Petteri Orpo Reuters.
  10. "Nyt se ratkesi – Stubb sivuun, Petteri Orpo on kokoomuksen uusi puheenjohtaja". Ilta-sanomat. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  11. "Orpo nappaa valtiovarainministerin salkun – Stubbin uudet tehtävät tarkentuvat myöhemmin". Yle. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  12. "Kokoomuksen ministerivaihdoksille sinetti – presidentti vahvisti nimitykset". Yle. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  13. Tuomas Forsell and Jussi Rosendahl (12 June 2017), Finnish PM to break up coalition, kick out nationalists Reuters.
  14. Council of the EU and Ministerial meetings European People's Party (EPP).
  15. YLE TV1 A-studio. 3 December 2019.
  16. YLE TV1 A-studio. 3 December 2019.
  17. "Tässä on illan vaalitulos: Kokoomus voitti, perussuomalaiset nousi toiseksi". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  18. Stenroos, Maria (2 April 2023). "Analyysi: Suomalaiset äänestivät Sanna Marinin hallituksen ulos". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  19. Karkkola, Minna (2 April 2023). "Petteri Orpo kertoo, miten starttaa hallitusneuvottelut – Lähteekö viestejä SDP:lle tai PS:lle?". Tärkeimmät talousuutiset | Kauppalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  20. Board of Governors European Investment Bank (EIB).
  21. Board of Governors: Petteri Orpo European Stability Mechanism.
  22. Board of Governors Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
  23. Board of Governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
  24. Members Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee.
  25. Board of Governors Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
  26. Board of Governors Archived 29 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Nordic Investment Bank (NIB).
  27. Board of Governors World Bank.
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