Hi! I´m Lasse Männistö, a 28 year old politician from Helsinki, and running for the Finnish parliament in the 2011 parliamentary election. In these pages you will find some information about me, my policies and my ways of making Finland a more international and Helsinki a more metropolitan place.

I have been in politics ever since 2005 when I got involved in the student politics through the Student union of Helsinki School of Economics (Aalto University School of Economics ever since 2010). Currently I work in the Helsinki city council and committee responsible for city planning as a member of the National Coalition Party group. I have also completed my M.Sc. in Business and Administration in 2009.

As far as my values go I would describe myself as a traditional liberal with a strong social consciousness as well as a right wing value base in terms of individual responsibilities. In my opinion the society should look after the weakest but every single person should also have to carry a responsibility for his own actions and decisions.

I also think that currently our public sector is not the most effective and flexible way to organize things. So in general I think that smaller and more flexible public sector in Finland is needed, especially since the number of employees in Finland is decreasing as the average Finn is getting older every day. Also when it comes to stimulating economic activity we should maintain our current (already comparatively high) tax-rate and not try to overcome the current public sector crisis just by increasing taxes. More comprehensive reform for our public sector is needed. Having lived one year in Hamburg, Germany (1999-2000) and half a year in Canada (2006) I truly believe in a global world and a strong Europe. I think that the welfare of Finland is based on the success of Finnish companies also in the future so we should look after our competitiveness in the global context. I also believe that in order to succeed in the future Finland has to continue to open up to the world and invite more well educated people from outside Finland to work here and bring their know-how and experience to Finland. Today all this is simply too hard and there are plenty of barriers for those that dare to even try.

In the parliamentary election on 14th of April 2011 all Finnish citizens can cast their vote on the candidates that they would like to make decisions in the parliament for the next four years. I encourage you to read about some of my opinions in this page and see if my opinions make sense. I also dare all those eligible to vote to do so – only this way you can influence the way Finland is heading in the 21st century!