Finland’s Social Democratic Party elected Nasima Razmyar, Niina Malm and Pinja Perholehto as deputy leaders on Sunday at the party’s congress in Tampere, as the opposition party sharpened its message ahead of the next parliamentary elections.
Razmyar received the highest number of votes in the contest and retained her position as first deputy leader. Malm was re-elected as second deputy leader, while Perholehto entered the leadership team as the new third deputy leader.
The vote marked the final major leadership decision of the three-day congress after delegates had already re-elected party leader Antti Lindtman and party secretary Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi without opposition.
Razmyar secured 904 votes from delegates. Malm received 745 and Perholehto 625. MPs Juha Viitala and Jani Kokko failed to win seats in the deputy leadership election.
The result strengthens Razmyar’s position inside the party after several years as one of SDP’s most recognisable figures. Born in Afghanistan, Razmyar arrived in Finland as a child refugee and entered parliament in 2015. She later left parliament temporarily while serving as Helsinki’s deputy mayor.
Speaking after the result, Razmyar said the party would head into the next elections with confidence.
“We are not bowing down. We will win the elections,” she said.
She also joked with Lindtman on stage after the results were announced.
“How will you manage now, Antti?” she asked as the new leadership team celebrated its victory.
Razmyar has at times broken with parts of the parliamentary group on policy issues, including border security legislation and economic policy. She has criticised the debt brake framework supported by several Finnish parties, describing it previously as a restriction on opportunity and growth.
Malm, a second-term MP from Imatra, campaigned on workers’ rights and criticism of the current government’s labour policies. Before entering parliament, she worked at Ovako steelworks as a crane operator and shop steward.
During her speech to delegates, Malm said politics should be communicated in plain language.
“Politics should be spoken in Finnish, not only in complicated terms,” she said.
Perholehto, 29, becomes the youngest member of SDP’s senior leadership. The MP from Hyvinkää entered national politics through student organisations, SDP youth politics and trade union work.
In her speech to congress, Perholehto spoke about solidarity and social mobility. She said economic stability alone was not enough if society failed people.
“A state can be economically stable but humanly broken,” she said.
Perholehto has spoken publicly in recent years about spending time in psychiatric care during her youth while being treated for anorexia and depression. She referred to those experiences again during her presentation speech to delegates.
The congress also featured a speech from Swedish Social Democratic leader and former prime minister Magdalena Andersson, who warned against allowing right-wing parties to dominate debates on crime and public safety.
“Shootings are everywhere,” Andersson said, while describing gang violence in Sweden.
She argued that social democrats must offer credible responses to organised crime without abandoning social policy.
“If we do not provide credible alternatives, we leave space for the right and authoritarian forces,” Andersson told delegates.
The party secretary said SDP membership had risen during the past year. According to Näkkäläjärvi, the party now has around 28,000 members. About 2,000 people joined during the past year, although net growth remained limited because of membership losses elsewhere.
SDP currently leads several national opinion polls in Finland and is aiming to return to government in the next parliamentary elections.
HT