Finnish oppn party Chair won't seek re-election

Helsinki, June 22 (IANS) Finland's opposition populist Finns Party Chairman, Jussi Halla-aho announced that he would not seek re-election in the August party convention, which means he will step down from the position.In his announcement on Monday, Halla-aho gave no specific reason except that he "feels a party chairman should not remain in office too long", reports Xinhua news agency.Halla-aho told a press conference that he will continue in his role as Parliament member and Helsinki city council member.He was elected as the party chairman in 2017 with a strong anti-immigration and anti-European Union (EU) agenda. He was re-elected in 2019.Under Halla-aho, the Finns Party became the second largest party in Parliament in the 2019 election, with 39 seats, after the Social Democratic Party. In the Finnish local elections earlier this month, the Finns increased their backing to 14.5 per cent from the 5.6 per cent in 2017, ranking in fourth place.
--IANS ksk/