List of political parties in Finland
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Political parties in Finland lists political parties in Finland. Finland has a multi-party system, with three strong parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
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[edit] Political parties represented in the Parliament
The Social Democratic Party of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue, SDP) is mostly supported by the urban working class but it also has some support among small farmers, white-collar workers, and professionals. In the 1995 parliamentary elections, SDP gained a plurality in Finland's parliament with 28% of the vote. But as it won far less than an overall majority, a five-party governing coalition was formed, baptized the "rainbow coalition". In the 1999 general election, SDP maintained its plurality with 22.9%, but the Centre Party came in as a near second with 22.4%. The coalition continued with little changes. In the 2007 elections SDP gained 21.4% of the votes and was the third biggest party. For the party this was the worst result since 1960s.
Finland's two other major parties are the Centre Party (Finnish: Suomen Keskusta), traditionally representing rural interests, and the conservative National Coalition Party (Finnish: Kansallinen Kokoomus), which draws its major support from the business community and urban professionals. The Centre Party won nearly 20% and the National Coalition Party 18% of the vote in 1995. In the 1999 elections, they won 22.9% and 21% of the vote, respectively. The National Coalition Party was the second-largest party in the SDP-led coalition, which was rounded out by the Swedish People's Party (Swedish: Svenska Folkpartiet, SFP) and the Green League (Finnish: Vihreä Liitto), which left the cabinet after the decision to build a fifth nuclear reactor. In 2007 elections the National Coalition Party was the biggest winner gaining 22.3% of the votes. The party was bigger than the SDP for the first time ever. In the same elections, however, the Centre Party remained the biggest, gaining 23.1% of the votes.
The Left Alliance (Finnish: Vasemmistoliitto), the SDP's rival on the left, gained 11% of the vote in 1995 and joined the SDP-led cabinet. In the 1999 elections it again got 11% of the vote, and remained in cabinet. It was, however, not included in the Center-SDP cabinet, and in 2007, the Left Alliance was again left into the opposition. The Left Alliance was formed in May 1990 and replaced the Finnish People's Democratic League (Finnish: Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL), a group that represented the Communist Party of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP) in the Parliament. Political activity by Communists was legalized after the Continuation War in 1944.
[edit] Registered political parties
Under Finnish law, a political association that fulfils certain conditions may become an officially registered party. A registered party may nominate candidates in all national and local elections, and a party that is represented in parliament is entitled to a government subsidy relative to its number of seats. To qualify as a registered party, an association must have bylaws guaranteeing democratic internal organization and must be able to present 5,000 supporters who are eligible to vote. A party that fails to win a single seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections is stricken from the register but may apply again. (In contrast, a voluntary association has a requirement of 20,000 supporters and is not eligible for party subsidy.)
Registered political parties as of 2007 and their leaders:
Parties represented in parliament:
- Centre Party of Finland (Suomen Keskusta, KESK): Matti Vanhanen
- Christian Democrats in Finland (Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit, KD): Päivi Räsänen
- Green League (Vihreä liitto, VIHR): Tarja Cronberg
- Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto, VAS): Martti Korhonen
- National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus, KOK): Jyrki Katainen
- Social Democratic Party of Finland (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue, SDP): Eero Heinäluoma
- Swedish People's Party (Svenska folkpartiet i Finland, SFP): Stefan Wallin
- True Finns (Perussuomalaiset, PS): Timo Soini
Other registered parties:
- Communist Party of Finland (Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP): Yrjö Hakanen
- Suomen Senioripuolue (SSP): Esko A. Repo
- For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party (Rauhan ja Sosialismin puolesta - Kommunistinen Työväenpuolue, KTP): Hannu Harju
Stricken from the register:
Seven parties were stricken from the register after 2007 elections, e.g. Finnish People's Blue-whites.
[edit] Historical political parties
- Finnish Party (Suomalainen Puolue, SP) 1860s-1918
- Young Finnish Party (Nuorsuomalainen Puolue, NSP) 1870s-1918
- Communist Party of Finland (Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP) 1918-1990
- National Progressive Party (Kansallinen Edistyspuolue, ED) 1918-1951
[edit] Parties in Åland
The autonomous region of Åland has its own party system. These parties are listed in the following table:
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +/– | 2003 | +/– | 2003 | +/– | |
| Åland Centre (Ålands Center) | 2,980 | –312 | 24.1 | –3.2 | 7 | –2 |
| Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland) | 2,970 | –493 | 24.1 | –4.7 | 7 | –2 |
| Åland Social Democrats (Ålands Socialdemokrater) | 2,340 | +913 | 19.0 | +7.1 | 6 | +3 |
| Freeminded Co-operation (Frisinnad Samverkan) | 1,677 | –73 | 13.6 | –0.9 | 4 | ±0 |
| Non-aligned Rally (Obunden Samling) | 1,163 | –374 | 9.4 | –3.3 | 3 | –1 |
| Future of Åland (Ålands Framtid) | 800 | +800 | 6.5 | +6.5 | 2 | +2 |
| Åland Progress Group (Ålands Framstegsgrupp) | 416 | –164 | 3.4 | –1.4 | 1 | ±0 |
| Total turnout 67.6%) | 12,346 | 30 | ||||
| Source: val.aland.fi | ||||||
[edit] See also
- Index of political parties to browse parties by name
- List of political parties to browse parties by country
- List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
- Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
- Political parties in Åland.
- Parliament of Finland
- Government of Finland
- President of Finland
- Elections in Finland
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