Otso Reijonen
Voting region: Helsinki
"Defender of the youth."
I am a 20-year-old student from Vallila in Helsinki. I work in commerce field, and my free time, besides politics, is spent playing and enjoying music, as well as playing badminton.
I am a candidate in the parliamentary elections, because I feel that the voice of the young generation is not yet heard strongly enough in national decision-making. Important values for me include freedom, equality and justice. I want to build a future where the welfare state is in safe hands, and where everyone has the opportunity to get education, work, get treatment when needed and feel safe in their home country. All decision making must be sustainable both economically and ecologically, and decisions must be made based on science and research.
Important political topics
Education
The school sector needs some peace after years of reforms. Now is the time to focus on the basics, and guarantee sufficient funding for all levels of education. In addition, we need more change leadership for the education sector, so that the reforms that have already been decided on can be brought to the finish line with honor.
The Finnish education system is among the best in the world; we shall not let the success it creates slip away from us.
Economy
The public economy has weakened over the past years, and we must use all means to strengthen the state's economic position. Our social security system also needs a complete reform during the next election period. Dismantling incentive traps makes accepting work more profitable in all income categories and simplifies the entire support system.
Culture
We have to recognize the position of culture as one of the basic pillars of our society. The culture and events sector employs a huge number of people, and also produces not only financial, but also very large amounts of mental well-being. We cannot reduce the evaluation of productivity to direct financial returns only.
Culture is the glue that holds us together as a nation. The goal for the upcoming election period should be to increase the culture budget to one percent of the total state budget. In addition to the young generation, the culture sector, whose normal operating conditions almost completely disappeared, took the worst hit of all due to the pandemic.
