Finland's prime minister and Centre Party chairman Juha Sipilä says he would not welcome MEP Paavo Väyrynen back to the party's parliamentary group.
Veteran eurosceptic Väyrynen said today that he plans to return to the Finnish parliament in the spring if he does not get elected as president. The former Centre Party politician formed his own party last year and is now seeking 20,000 signatures so he can run for president.
If Väyrynen fails to get them, he says he would take up the seat in parliament he won - and then abandoned - in 2015.
"As far as I know our parliamentary group only includes Centre Party MPs, not members of other groups," Sipilä said today.
He also stressed that the parliamentary group as a whole decides such matters, not the leader of the party alone.
"Fortunately I won't have to resolve this alone," Sipilä added.
Lengthy political career
Väyrynen is a seasoned career politician who was first elected to Parliament in 1970. The 71-year-old and has served as Minister of Education, Labour, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and International Development.
His most recent ministerial posting was during the Matti Vanhanen administration from 2007 to 2011. He served as Deputy Prime Minister under Kalevi Sorsa in the mid-80s.
The veteran politico was also elected Centre Party chair in 1980 and contested presidential elections on three occasions - in 1988, 1994 and 2012.