Friday, April 22, 2011

Mari Kiviniemi

Mari Johanna Kiviniemi (born 27 September 1968) is a Finnish politician and current Prime Minister of Finland. She was elected as the Prime Minister on 22 June 2010. Prior to her appointment as Prime Minister, Kiviniemi was Minister of Public Administration and Local Government in the Council of State of Finland from 2007 to 2010. Previously she was the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development from 2005 to 2006. Her political party is the Centre Party. In June 2010, she was elected chair of the Centre Party.
In 2003, Kiviniemi was elected to a leadership position within the Centre Party, serving as vice-chairman (one of three) until June 2008, when she was voted off at that summer's party convention. She became a special advisor to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in 2004, and was twice appointed by him to serve as a Cabinet minister: first in September 2005 on a temporary basis when the incumbent went on maternity leave for six months; and then on a full-time basis in April 2007.
On 22 January 2010, one month after Prime Minister Vanhanen announced he would be stepping down as leader (chair) of the Centre Party at its June 2010 convention, Kiviniemi announced her candidacy for the vacancy. Her campaign was formally launched in April.

No comments:

Post a Comment