Sini Maaria Suvi-Anne Siimes (born 1 June 1963, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) is a former chair of the Finnish Left Alliance. She quit the party in 2006 because she did not want to support the party's former taistoists (orthodox pro-Soviet communists). Before her political career, she had several short teaching posts in

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

and Kauppakorkeakoulu and she was planning a scientist / researcher career in economic sciences Her political career started in local politics in

Pohja Pohja (; sv, Pojo) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Ekenäs and Karis to form the new town of Raseborg in 2009. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality ...

(a small town in South-Western Finland) She was chairperson of the Finnish Left Alliance 1998–2006 and was a member of the Finnish Parliament (''

Eduskunta The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

'') from 1999 to 2007. She served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a delegate for Finland in the Nordic Council. In the two Cabinets of

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of t ...

(1995–2003), Siimes served as the Coordinate Minister for Culture (1998–1999) and as the Minister of Finance (1999–2003). From 1995 to 2000, she was a deputy member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Committee on Regional Development The Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Younous Omarjee Younous Omarjee (born 30 September 1969 in Saint-Denis, Réunion) is a French politician who ...

. In March 2006 she resigned from the Left Alliance, stating she didn't want to support the election of former taistoists like Jaakko Laakso to the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

in the next elections 2007 and that she could not continue in politics after she had not succeeded in making the Left Alliance what she termed a "modern" leftist political party with "modern European attitudes" and practices. In her book (Politiikan julkisivu) published after she left politics in March 2007, she tells in detail what made her to quit her very successful political career (in election 1999 over 16,000 personal votes and 2003 over 17,000 votes, a number that showed that she was one of the most popular politicians in Finnish political life 1999–2003) In the 2009 European elections, Siimes endorsed Risto Penttilä, a

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

candidate. Siimes is now working as Director General of Pharma Industry Finland. She was appointed Chairman of the Board of Veikkaus (the Finnish National Lottery) on 16 March 2011. Siimes has a licentiate (advanced degree) in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Publications

*''Amerikan päiväkirja ja muita kirjoituksia'' (2000) *''Politiikan piilokuvat'' (2002) *''Politiikan julkisivu'' (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siimes, Suvi-Anne 1963 births Living people Politicians from Helsinki Left Alliance (Finland) politicians Ministers of Finance of Finland Ministers of Education of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland 21st-century Finnish women politicians