A party switch puts Vihti municipal board’s future at risk

Seventeen councillors in Vihti have proposed dismissing the municipality’s executive board after councillor Jussi Romsi switched from the Centre Party group to the Social Democratic group, Yle reports.

The proposal’s signatories say Romsi’s move changed the political balance on the board from the seat allocation agreed after last year’s municipal elections. They say the issue is about leaving a council group, not political positions.

“We cannot accept someone elected on the Centre Party’s mandate holding a position of trust in another party’s group,” said Mikko Lasanen, chair of the Centre Party council group. He said candidates agree before elections to give up other positions of trust, apart from their council seat, if they leave their council group.

The proposal was submitted to the municipality on Thursday. Its aim is to dismiss the entire executive board and appoint a new one later. The signatories represent five parties: the Centre Party, National Coalition Party, Finns Party, Christian Democrats and Swedish People’s Party.

The executive board is due to hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday to consider the proposal. It is expected to recommend that the council appoint a temporary committee to assess whether the board still has its confidence. The proposal will then be brought before the council that evening as an additional item, and councillors may vote on whether to take it up.

The committee would hear from the executive board and, if necessary, other parties before making a recommendation to the council. Dismissing the board requires support from more than half of the councillors. If the council votes to dismiss it, a new board could be appointed at its December meeting.

Jarkko Majava, a development manager at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, said dismissing a municipal executive board or its chairmanship during a term is neither unusual nor common. He said there are a few such cases during each council term across Finland. The law does not allow individual members to be dismissed, so the whole board or chairmanship must be removed. Switches between party groups are among the common reasons for such moves.