Delegates of the Swedish People’s Party will elect a new chair at their next annual convention this summer. Incumbent Carl Haglund told the dailies Helsingin Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet that he will not be available to contest the position at the June congress.
Haglund described the decision to step down as difficult, but said that it was driven by a lack of motivation as well as family considerations.
Haglund also told the papers that during his last year as Defence Minister he had lost all confidence in rational politics. He described the period as unsettling and full of vacillation and reversals. He lamented that nothing had change since then.
"I don’t have the fire to be minister. It’s no longer my dream," Haglund told Helsingin Sanomat.
Just 36 years old, Haglund has been chair of the Swedish People’s Party since 2012. He held the post of Defence Minister from 2012 to 2015, under Prime Ministers Jyrki Katainen and Alexander Stubb, both of the National Coalition Party.
The SPP will elect a new chairperson during its June party congress in Turku.