Li Andersson, the longtime leader of the Left Alliance, announced on Tuesday that she is stepping down from her leadership post to run as a candidate in the European parliamentary elections, scheduled to be held in June this year.
The Left Alliance is planning to hold its leadership election in the autumn.
Andersson, 36, has led the Left Alliance since 2016. She said it would be good for the party to have new leadership and that she hopes the Left Alliance will have a new chair well ahead of next year's municipal and wellbeing services county elections.
"This is a decision I made completely independent of whether I ran as a candidate in the EU elections or not," she explained at a press conference on Tuesday.
Andersson's current term would have normally lasted until the Left Alliance's party conference in 2025. After the last parliamentary election, Andersson said she would continue to lead the party until next year.
Andersson said that from her experience, it takes time to build a profile as a party leader.
"I don't think it would be good that the new party chair's first national election campaign would be the parliamentary elections in 2027," she explained.
Andersson said that deciding to run as an MEP was the most difficult choices of her life.
"Many people have contacted me and said I am needed in Finland," she said.
Andersson said that she has the energy — and wants — to try something new and that her political career is by no means over.
She noted that far-right parties are expected to be quite successful in the EU elections and that the Left Alliance needs to work on climate as well as human rights issues.
"There will be many big battles about the future of Europe in the next few years. Nobody can go to Brussels to retire," she said.
Andersson ran as a candidate in January's presidential elections, receiving 4.9 percent of the vote in the first round.
Andersson was also part of former prime minister Sanna Marin's (SDP) government, headed up by female party leaders that became known as the "Famous Five".
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