Timo Laaninen was the party secretary of the Centre Party in Finland from June 12, 2010 to 2016. Laaninen was the editor-in-chief of
Suomenmaa
''Suomenmaa'' is a Finnish language party newspaper published four days a week from Tuesday to Friday in Oulu, Finland.
History and profile
The newspaper was established in 1908 as ''Maakansa'' in ViipuriEsko Aho's cabinet
The cabinet of Esko Aho was the 65th government of Finland. The cabinet existed from 26 April 1991 to 13 April 1995. The cabinet’s Prime Minister was Esko Aho.
The Aho Government started its term when Finland was in the midst of its history’s ...
to the minister of internal affairs,
Mauri Pekkarinen
Reijo Mauri Matias Pekkarinen (born 6 October 1947, in Kinnula, Finland) is a Finnish politician, currently serving as a Member of European Parliament for Finland. He is the Centre Party of Finland (''Suomen Keskusta'') deputy and secretary, ha ...
, minister for foreign affairs
Heikki Haavisto
Heikki Haavisto (20 August 1935 – 22 July 2022) was a Finnish politician and lobbyist. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Esko Aho's cabinet between 1993 and 1995 representing Centre Party.
Haavisto was a long-term chairman of MTK, a ...
and prime minister
Esko Aho
Esko Tapani Aho (born 20 May 1954) is a Finnish politician who was prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995.
Early life and career
Aho was born in Veteli, Finland. Prior to attending university, he began a career in politics. From 1974 to ...
. In
Anneli Jäätteenmäki's cabinet
Anneli is a female given name common in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Norway. It originated as a variation of the name Anna. It is listed by the Finnish Population Register Centre as one of the top 10 most popular female given names ever.
Not ...
he was a political secretary for prime minister
Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female Prime Minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) ...
and later also for
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party and President of the European Council in 2006. In his earlier career, h ...
Laaninen supported Matti Vanhanen's presidential campaign by writing an electoral campaign book ''Se on ihan Matti!'' (It is really Matti!, the proverb ''Olen ihan Matti'' means ''I am really sure of it''), which was published 23 October 2005.
During the juridical process
Antti-Pekka Pietilä
''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''.
According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta-S ...
claimed, that Timo Laaninen had said, that the political secretaries of the Centre Party in Finland will take care of the fact that the editor-in-chief of
Ilta-Sanomat
''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''.
According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta- ...
, a
Sanoma
Sanoma Corporation (, formerly SanomaWSOY) is Finland's largest media group. The company has media business in Finland and a learning business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Spain, among others. The company is headquarte ...
company will have to resign. Timo Laaninen denied this on his behalf on 4 December 2006. Laaninen had said, that there is a half-criminal part in the Centre Party in Finland, which "collects money from here and there and manipulates the construction permission plans" (''Keskustassa on puolirikollinen osa, joka kähmii vaalirahoja sieltä sun täältä ja suhmuroi vaalirahoja'').
Laaninen described the elections in 2011 as historical, as there are big issues to solve. ''Väestö ikääntyy, työssäkäyvien määrä suhteessa pienenee ja takana on finanssikriisi, jonka seurauksena valtiot ovat velkaantuneet aika pahasti. Kyllä tässä on isot asiat käsillä.'' (The population grows older, the relative proportion of the working people diminishes and there is a financial crisis behind, which had led to the badly debt-driven states. There are big issues within the reach of hands.)
On
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
2011 Laaninen delivered a Mayday political speech near
Kyösti Kallio
Kyösti Kallio (; 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician of the Agrarian League who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937–1940; his presidency included leading the country through the Winter War. He was t ...
's statue criticizing
Teuvo Hakkarainen
Teuvo Hakkarainen (born 12 April 1960, in Viitasaari) is a Finnish politician and member of the European Parliament, representing the Finns Party. Before being elected to the European Parliament in the 2019 election, he had been a member of the F ...
. He joined the critics and said in typical Mayday political speech near Kyösti Kallio's statue 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 ...
, that ''Neekeriukko'' (Negro old man) was the worst insult. He also added, that he wonders, how is it possible, that Hakkarainen can apologise his sayings by claiming, that he comes from countryside. "Pahempaa loukkausta maalaisille ja maalla syntyneille on vaikea keksiä" (It is difficult to find a worse insult concerning the rural people and people, who have been born in the countryside). He also commented Hakkarainen's statements, that they are an "all time low" comment in the immigration debate.
Laaninen has become a baccalaureat in 1973 and Master of Science in administrative sciences in 1983.
Later Laaninen studied theology in university and received his master's degree of theology 2018. In the same year he began a two-year work as a priest in the congregation of