Karoliina Partanen receives most votes in Kokoomus vice-chair election

The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) of Finland has elected its new vice-chairs, with Karoliina Partanen securing the position of first vice-chair after receiving the most votes. Antti Häkkänen and Sari Multala were also elected to serve as vice-chairs.

Partanen garnered 595.8 votes, surpassing Häkkänen's 539.8 votes and Multala's 399 votes. Other candidates for the vice-chair positions included Members of Parliament Heikki Autto and Janne Jukkola, as well as Sari Rautio. Häkkänen has been a vice-chair for ten years, having been first elected in 2016 when Petteri Orpo became party leader.

Discussions within the party had previously raised concerns about Häkkänen's long tenure, with an unwritten rule suggesting two terms as vice-chair should be sufficient. A proposal to limit the number of vice-chair terms was put forward at the party congress but was ultimately rejected, meaning the party's rules will not be amended in this regard.

In addition to the vice-chairs, party council members were elected for the next two-year term. Arto Satonen, a former Minister of Labour and current Member of Parliament, was elected as the chair of the party council, defeating candidates Susanna Koski and Sebastian Stenfors. The congress, attended by over 800 voting delegates, experienced some technical difficulties with its new electronic voting system during the election for the party council chair, causing delays and requiring corrections to vote counts.