Paavo Arhinmäki

Who is Paavo Arhinmäki?

Paavo Erkki Arhinmäki is a Finnish politician, the incumbent Minister for Culture and Sport and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Left Alliance, whose leader he has been since June 2009. He was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in the 2007 election and reelected in 2011. Arhinmäki has been a member of the Helsinki city council since 2001. He led the Left Youth in 2001–2005. He proposed a halt to nuclear power projects in Finland in the wake of the Great Hanshin earthquake.

After the 2011 election the Left Alliance became a partner in the six-party grand coalition cabinet led by Jyrki Katainen. The football enthusiast Arhinmäki became Minister for Culture and Sport, and the party gained another ministerial portfolio as well. The decision to join the government created a split in the party, leading to the expulsion of two MPs from the parliamentary group.

In 2012 Arhinmäki was a Left Alliance candidate in the Finnish Presidential Elections, finishing 6th with 5.5% of the total votes in the first round of voting.