Stopping work kept Mauri Pekkarinen awake, so he is back at it

Mauri Pekkarinen did not miss the big circles of national politics, but stopping work kept him awake at night. Now the veteran politician is throwing himself into his role as chair of the Jyväskylä City Council.

The 78-year-old Pekkarinen, a veteran politician from Finland’s Centre Party, received the honorary title of minister in 2020. Helsingin Sanomat visited him at his home in an old village school in Oittila, in Jyväskylä’s Korpilahti district.

At the entrance, Pekkarinen showed a framed picture of a bridge. The shortest route to the former schoolhouse runs across the Kärkistensalmi bridge, whose views open onto the lake landscape of central Finland and Lake Päijänne.

Pekkarinen also says that he neglected his family during his years in national politics. Despite leaving the national stage, he continues to follow events around the world closely and has found renewed enthusiasm in local political work.