Anneli Jäätteenmäki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anneli Jäätteenmäki
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Official portrait, 2014
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| 39th Prime Minister of Finland | |
| In office 17 April 2003 – 24 June 2003 |
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| President | Tarja Halonen |
| Deputy | Antti Kalliomäki |
| Preceded by | Paavo Lipponen |
| Succeeded by | Matti Vanhanen |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 1 May 1994 – 13 April 1995 |
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| Prime Minister | Esko Aho |
| Preceded by | Hannele Pokka |
| Succeeded by | Sauli Niinistö |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki
11 February 1955 Lapua, Finland |
| Political party | Centre Party |
| Spouse | Jorma Melleri |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Helsinki |
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born February 11, 1955) is a Finnish politician. She made history as the first woman to become the Prime Minister of Finland. She served as prime minister from April 17, 2003, to June 24, 2003. Later, from 2004 to 2019, she was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing Finland.
Contents
Anneli Jäätteenmäki's Early Life and Career
Anneli Jäätteenmäki grew up on a small farm in the forests of South Ostrobothnia, Finland. Since her brother was set to take over the farm, Anneli and her sisters went to school. She became interested in politics and joined the Centre Party.
She studied law and earned her master's degree in 1980. From 1981 to 1987, she worked as a lawyer for her party's group in Parliament. In 1987, she was elected to the Finnish Parliament, also known as the Eduskunta.
From 1994 to 1995, Jäätteenmäki served as the Minister of Justice. After this, her party became part of the opposition. She was chosen as the leader of the Centre Party of Finland from June 2000 to October 2003.
Becoming Prime Minister of Finland
After eight years of her party being in the opposition, Anneli Jäätteenmäki led the Centre Party to a close win. This happened in the 2003 parliamentary elections. They won against the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which had been the largest party.
Because of Finland's new constitution, she was given the first chance to form a new government. She successfully worked with the Social Democrats and the Swedish People's Party. Together, they formed a government that continued many of the previous government's plans. They also introduced new ideas to help the economy, like cutting taxes.
During her short time as prime minister, Finland was unique. It was the only country in the world with women serving as both prime minister and president. Half of her government ministers were also women. At the same time, New Zealand also had many women in top leadership roles.
Resignation from Office
Anneli Jäätteenmäki resigned on June 18, 2003. This happened because she was accused of not being truthful to Parliament and the public. The issue was about how she got secret documents from the Foreign Ministry. She had used these documents for political reasons during her election campaign.
The documents contained information about a meeting between the US President and Finland's previous prime minister. This meeting was about Finland's view on the 2003 war in Iraq. Jäätteenmäki used this information to suggest that her rival had secretly supported the US-led group. This went against Finland's official policy of staying neutral in foreign affairs.
After the documents were shared in newspapers, the police started an investigation. On June 11, Prime Minister Jäätteenmäki was questioned by the police. This led to more pressure on her to explain her role in the leak.
Later, it became clear that a presidential aide, Martti Manninen, had leaked the documents. On June 18, Jäätteenmäki explained her side to Parliament. She said she received the documents by fax without asking for them. She also claimed she did not know they were secret.
However, Parliament was not satisfied with her explanation. When Manninen publicly stated that Jäätteenmäki had specifically asked for the information, her coalition partners lost trust in her leadership. She resigned that same evening. She stated that she lacked political trust, but she did not admit to any wrongdoing.
On June 24, she announced she would also step down as leader of the Centre Party. Matti Vanhanen was then chosen as the new party leader. He later became the new prime minister.
Member of the European Parliament
After her time as prime minister, Jäätteenmäki became a MEP for the Centre Party. In the 2004 European Parliament elections, she received a very high number of votes. She got over 140,000 votes, which was about 8% of all votes cast.
In April 2006, Jäätteenmäki announced she would take a break from her work due to a health issue. However, she returned to politics after a successful recovery. Even though she was offered chances to return to Finnish national politics, she chose not to run in the 2007 Finnish Parliament elections.
She was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2009. She received the second-highest number of votes in Finland that year. She was re-elected for a third and final term in 2014. Her term as an MEP ended in 2019.
Cabinets
- Jäätteenmäki Cabinet
See also
In Spanish: Anneli Jäätteenmäki para niños
