Politics & Power Quote by Harri Holkeri

A sentence this mild can still be a power move. “I think I can regard myself as a political decision-maker” is the language of someone staking a claim without sounding like he’s staking a claim. Holkeri doesn’t say “I am” a decision-maker; he says he can “regard” himself as one. That extra layer of self-description reads like caution, but it also functions as insulation: he’s asserting authority while staying politely reversible if the room turns hostile.

The phrasing matters. “Political decision-maker” is bureaucratic, almost bloodless, a job title stripped of ideology. It frames politics as management rather than combat, implying that legitimacy comes from process and competence, not charisma. In a Nordic parliamentary context, where coalition logic and institutional steadiness are prized, that technocratic self-positioning signals seriousness. It also sidesteps partisan identity: he’s not a “leader” or a “fighter,” he’s the person who makes calls.

The subtext is about standing in the chain of command. Politicians often need to remind both insiders and the public that they’re not merely commentators, negotiators, or symbolic figureheads. The hesitant “I think” doubles as a rhetorical handshake, projecting humility while quietly drawing a boundary: I’m not just participating in politics, I’m authorized to decide.

Read this way, the quote becomes a miniature portrait of late-20th-century governance: authority expressed as understatement, power presented as procedure, ambition dressed in careful syntax.