Party secretaries lead businesses into the election spring

At the heart of Blic's work is strengthening the dialogue between policy-makers and businesses and other social actors. This autumn, one of the tools we used to achieve this was our breakfast events, which gave our partners the opportunity to talk to the party secretaries of the three main parties - the Coalition, the Centre and the SDP.

Each party secretary gave a breakfast presentation on their party's preparation and positioning for the "super spring" of 2019. At the breakfasts of Janne Pesonen, Coalition Party Party Secretary, and Riikka Pirkkalainen, Party Secretary of the Centre Party, the discussion naturally also touched on the current term of government - its practices, challenges and achievements. SDP Party Secretary Antton Rönnholm introduced the breakfast with an update on opposition politics and described the SDP's extensive programme preparation.

At each event, the audience challenged the party secretaries to open up the parties' views, in particular on climate change, solving labour shortages and the viability of work and entrepreneurship. The role of the new generations in the upcoming elections was also raised in the discussions. What was notable about the breakfast events was the focus of the debate on the parliamentary elections - European themes seem to be waiting for their turn.

It was a pleasure to witness the lively exchange of ideas between the party secretaries and our audience. The attention paid to these events showed that the elections have already attracted a lot of interest during the past autumn. At Blic, we are looking forward to the election debates, which will intensify as the spring progresses. But now is an opportune moment to take a breather and welcome the new year. A prosperous New Year for everyone!