Former Finnish PM to be investigated by the police

[Tiriol]

The former Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, is going to be investigated by the police due to a conflict of interest after the Parliament's Constitutional Law Committee gave its approval.

BREAKING NEWS: Police to investigate Vanhanen’s conflict of interest case
Constitutional Law Committee reaches decision on Tuesday

The Constitutional Law Committee of the Finnish Parliament decided on Tuesday to ask for a police investigation into a possible conflict of interest that former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) may have had when he took part in a decision on the distribution of revenues from the state-owned Finnish Slot Machine Association (RAY).
One of the recipients of RAY money was Nuorisosäätiö, a youth housing foundation with close ties to Vanhanen’s Centre Party. The foundation gave a considerable donation to Vanhanen’s presidential election campaign in 2006.

Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka asked the committee to decide whether or not a preliminary police investigation is warranted. He felt that only the Constitutional Law Committee is authorised to ask for a police investigation into suspicions of malfeasance by a government minister.
Jonkka himself feels that an investigation is warranted, even though he feels that the infraction on Vanhanen’s part may be minor.
The Prosecutor General, who testified before the committee, also came out in favour of an investigation.

The committee requests that the investigation be launched as expeditiously as possible so that the present Parliament, whose term runs out in March next year, will have the chance to take a stand on it.
Although the committee was formally unanimous in its decision, one of its members, Hannes Manninen (Centre Party) dictated a statement into the protocol in which he said that the committee could have investigated the matter on its own without involving the police. However, he did not make a counterproposal, yielding instead to the will of the majority.
Three other Centre Party members endorsed Manninen’s statement.

The committee’s chairman Kimmo Sasi (Nat. Coalition Party) did not feel that Manninen’s idea that the committee should have investigated the matter on its own, would have been realistic.
Both Sasi and the committee’s deputy chairman Jacob Söderman (SDP) emphasised that the investigation process is at an early stage.
“It is possible that there will be new twists in the investigation. Do not think that a court of impeachment is around the corner”, Söderman said on Tuesday.

I hope that every aspiring politician and every SITTING politician and bureaucrat takes a good, hard look at this news here back home. For the last couple of years we have been assailed by the media with news about Finnish politicians' financial backers, their influence and how easily the politicians have caved in or otherwise made good use of the buddy system. "Maan tapa" (direct translation: country's way, but I prefer "that's just how things go") is hopefully finally going to get a royal kick to the nuts that is long overdue on both sides of the political fence.

[Edi]

For anyone interested in the actual sums that prompted this, we're talking numbers in the less than 50 thousand euros range that were contributed by Nuorisosäätiö to Vanhanen's campaign.

I'm glad they're investigating him, because the good old boy system and the refusal to divulge donor records needs to go and these asshats need a good tarring and feathering.

Vanhanen resigned from the position of Prime Minister months ago and it's a fool's bet to think that anything other than this was the reason. He denies it of course, but if he had been still the PM when the Chancellor of Justice went public with the issue, the Center Party would be in seriously deep shit right now. It already is, but we're talking a whole different level of trouble in that instance.

[Solauren]

I'd like to see every outgoing polition investigated, or every time they finish a second term.

That would probably effect alot of politics in what would be a net-positive way. The 'old boy' system and 'Hey Buddy!' system would take serious beatings.

[Phantasee]

I'd like to see every outgoing polition investigated, or every time they finish a second term.

Because that's an efficient use of resources, right?