Eemeli Peltonen: Aspiring young MP dies suddenly inside Finland’s main government building
Feelings of shock and disbelief have engulfed the Finnish Parliament after a respected young politician died inside the country’s main government building in Helsinki.
Eemeli Peltonen, 30, who represented the Social Democratic Party as an MP, was found dead inside the building on Tuesday (11.06am local time), with reports from local media suggesting he had taken his own life.
Police were called to the Eduskuntatalo parliamentary building and after investigating the scene, confirmed they had no reason to believe there was any foul play. A large emergency service presence remained for hours after the incident.
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“He was a much-loved member of our community and we will miss him deeply. A young life has ended far too early,” Tytti Tuppurainen, chair of the Social Democratic parliamentary group said.
Although the Finnish parliament is in summer recess, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo led a minute’s silence in honour of Peltonen who, he said, had been well liked by colleagues.
Speaker of the Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, added via X that Peltonen was a “well-liked colleague who was respected across party lines”.
Peltonen was a relative rookie in the halls of Parliament after being elected to represent the southern region of Uusimaa in 2023.
His career was on an upward spiral since he was elected as a city councillor for the town of Jarvenpaa at just 18 years old.
Four years later, Peltonen became chairman of the city board, the youngest person to ever hold the title.
Recent social media posts from the MP had pointed to developing health issues including an explanation as to his absence from work in June stating he was “away from a lot of parliamentary work in the last weeks” because of a “a kidney problem”.
In the post, he said he was being treated for an infection with “an intravenous antibiotic cure in Meilahti, which takes its time”.
“I’m already discharged from hospital, but due to the situation I’m on summer sick leave and I’m now fully focused on recovering from the illness,” he wrote.
Lifeline: 13 11 14.
