Päivi Räsänen

Who is Päivi Räsänen?

Päivi Maria Räsänen, née Kuvaja, is a Finnish politician. The chairwoman of the Christian Democrats since 2004, she is the current Minister of the Interior of Finland.

A physician by education, Räsänen got into politics in the early 1990s, running for parliament in 1991. She has been in the Riihimäki City Council since 1993, and in the Finnish Parliament since 1995. She was elected the chairperson of the Christian Democrats in October 2, 2004. Resulting from the government formation after the 2011 election, which led to the Christian Democrats joining the government, Räsänen was nominated by the party as the Minister of the Interior in the 72nd Finnish Cabinet led by Jyrki Katainen, and she was inaugurated along with the government on June 22, 2011.