Madam, - With reference to your report of June 4th, "Political turmoil in Finland over illegal fundraising", there are certain inaccuracies we wish to set right.
There were only 26 MPs who failed to report their election funding as stringently as required by Finnish election fundraising law and the prime minister of Finland was not one of them. All funds received by the prime minister were duly declared immediately after the 2007 elections.
Furthermore, the claim in the front-page news digest that "over half the money landed in the coffers of prime minister Matti Vanhanen" is utter nonsense. The prime minister received €10,000 from the association mentioned in the article. This - totally legal - donation was also clearly declared according to the law.
The 26 MPs, who represent both government and opposition parties, have now provided complete declarations. The present government of Finland is a coalition government of four parties.
The prime minister has said he is also prepared to have a thorough discussion in the Finnish parliament about election funding should the opposition wish to do so by submitting an interpellation to the Government. This would offer an excellent opportunity for a full and frank discussion on an issue which concerns all parties.
The Finnish government has duly taken into account the recommendations put forward in the Council of Europe report last December concerning the legislation of election funding. It was decided then that a working group would be established to examine the matter and to put proposals for legislative changes if deemed necessary. This work has already started.
We wish to emphasise that there was and there is nothing illegal about donating campaign funds to parliamentary candidates in Finland, a system that applies to most countries in the world. By making the legislation governing the declaration of election funding even more precise and binding we can, in the future, hopefully avoid misunderstandings among all parties. - Yours, etc,
ASKO MATTILA,
Director of Government Communications,
Prime Minister's Office,
Helsinki,
Finland.
