Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

Osmo Soininvaara
Jäähyväiset eduskunnalle [Farewell to Parliament]
Helsinki: Teos, 2015. 247pp.
ISBN 978-951-851-649-4
€33, hardback

Long-time member of the Finnish Parliament Osmo Soininvaara, who has also worked as a minister, decided not to participate in the 2015 parliamentary elections. In this timely book, this expert in social politics and influential figure in the Green Alliance examines the reasons for political alienation, analyses politics more broadly and presents his own medicines for improving the situation. According to Soininvaara, the Finnish parliament has become superficial and publicity-seeking and there is much room for improvement in its work. The six-party ‘rainbow coalition’ of the outgoing parliament was incapable of action and the two largest, leftist, parties were continually at loggerheads, with the Social Democrats, in particular, demanding reforms. The divided opposition was toothless. Finland’s economy weakened still further, and it proved impossible to implement the administration’s central projects, reform of the social and health systems and of municipal administration, let alone others, among them the structural administrative changes essential for economic recovery. Writing fluently, Soininvaara examines politics and Parliament from many different perspectives, arguing eloquently for his views.