Immigrant makes history, wins elections in Finland
Tuesday, 06/11/2012
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121106/punjab.htm#15
Chandigarh : Ranbir Sodhi, who is from Dhuri in Punjab, has been elected to the Council of Governors of Vantaa for a second time in a row. Vantaa is a province in Finland adjoining the national capital Helsinki.
A businessman turned politician, Ranbir Sodhi moved to Finland in 1987 and became the first immigrant from South Asia to sit in the Vantaa assembly when he was earlier elected in 2007. He represents Social Democratic Party, one of the leading national parties in the country.
Sodhi, who is a postgraduate in Economics from Punjabi University, Patiala, has been in the business of nightclubs in Finland. His wife and son live with him in Vantaa, where there are about 200-odd families of expatriates from Punjab.
The council of the province has 67 members. However, members are called governors of the province. In the 2012 elections, the Social Democratic Party has emerged as the single largest party in the council. The election system, explains Ranbir Singh Sodhi, is different from that of India. There are no direct contests. Instead, all those who are interested in elections file their nominations. In Vantaa, those finishing in the list of top 67 are declared elected as governors of the council. Subsequently different boards are constituted to run different portfolios/departments.
Apart from Sodhi, another immigrant from Punjab - SS Gill from Moga - contested in the elections held last month but failed to make the cut.
Incidentally, Sodhi ended up with the 7th highest votes of all governors elected from his party. Earlier in 2007, Sodhi created history by becoming the first Indian to be elected in Finland to the council of governors. In line with his party philosophy, Sodhi believes that “a transparent democracy coupled with a strong welfare focus is the only sustainable governance model. Polity around the world is learning this the hard way from the recent global recession”.
