Anne Elisabeth Holmlund (born 18 April 1964) is a Finnish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of Finland from 2007 to 2011. She was a Member of Parliament for the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

from 2002 until 2015.

Political career

Holmlund has been a member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

Ulvila Ulvila (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a ...

since 1989, and the council chairman 2001-2002 and 2005–2007. She was a member of the kaupunginhallitus 1993-2000 and the vice-chairman 2003–2004. She has been a Member of Parliament for the

since 2002. On 19 April 2007 she was chosen to be Interior Minister in Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet. After the

Kauhajoki school shooting The Kauhajoki school shooting occurred on 23 September 2008 at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) in Kauhajoki, Finland. The gunman, 22-year-old student Matti Juhani Saari, shot and killed ten people with a Walther P22 Target ...

in September 2008 Holmlund came under considerable pressure from some members of parliament, particularly those in the Left Alliance, to quit for failing to change legislation in order to prevent the shooting. A similar event in Jokela had taken place barely a year earlier. Leading the call for her deposition was Anneli Lapintie;

Tarja Filatov Tarja Filatov (born 9 August 1963 in Hämeenlinna) is a member of Finnish Parliament, currently serving as the Second Deputy Speaker. She served as Minister of Labour between 2000 and 2007 and as one of the two Deputy Speakers of Parliament on tw ...

, parliamentary group leader of the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

(SDP) also questioned the government over what it had done since the Jokela incident. Minister of Finance

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously prime minister of Finland f ...

issued his full support to Holmlund. A survey by pollster Taloustutkimus for

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

showed that dissension towards Holmlund was not widespread: only a quarter of members from smaller parties felt she should step down, only 10% of SDP members (with 80% supporting her to stay on), and 90% of the government's partners wanted her to hold on to her ministry. Amongst the population, 82% felt she should continue. Holmlund herself stated at a news conference that resignation "would be tantamount to desertion".

Personal life

Holmlund is married to Jarmo Peltomaa, and her father was Ilmari Holmlund, a known politician from Pori.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmlund, Anne 1964 births Living people People from Pori National Coalition Party politicians Ministers of the interior of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–2007) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Women government ministers of Finland Female interior ministers 21st-century Finnish women politicians