Centre MPs voted Tuesday morning to install former premier Matti Vanhanen as head of the party’s business in the parliament.
MPs Elsi Katainen and Marku Lohi were also elected to the positions of deputy parliamentary chair and second deputy chair respectively.
The parliamentary chief seat became vacant when MP Kimmo Tiilikainen took up his duties as Agriculture and Environment Minister last Friday.
Veteran in the Parliament and the public eye
Vanhanen is no stranger to the parliament, having briefly served as Defence Minister in 2003 under Anneli Jäätteenmäki - whom he later succeeded - and Prime Minister from 2003 to 2010.
He stepped down from office halfway through his second term in 2010, citing medical reasons. However Vanhanen and the Centre had been dogged by suspicions over party financing irregularities, which were investigated by police. The Parliament’s Constitutional Law Committee however determined that Vanhanen should not face charges over the matter.
Vahnanen is widely considered a member of the liberal element of the conservative Centre - as premier he cut top income tax rates as well as corporate taxes and has gone on record as saying he favours more tax cuts. Finland's contentious participation in Greece's financial bailout was also orchestrated during his regime.
He also challenged then-President Tarja Halonen in the 2006 presidential election, but came in third behind the National Coalition Party's Sauli Niinistö.
Aspects of Vanhanen’s personal life also played out in the public eye. The self-styled family man and his wife divorced in 2005 and a former flame, Susanna Kuronen aka Susanna Ruusunen published a salacious novel "The Prime Minister’s Bride" in 2007.
Vanhanen successfully sued Ruusunen and her publisher for invasion of privacy and the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010.
