Finnish parliamentary election, 2007
Encyclopedia
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta
(parliament of Finland), held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting
was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.
Election themes included a reduction of income tax and VAT
on food. A proposal for a guaranteed minimum income
was introduced by some parties. The election debates were characterised by the high economic growth in Finland in recent years, which was thought to mean the government would have extra money to use on welfare services and transfer payments. Largest advertising budgets were spent by the Coalition Party (2,46 M€) and the Center Party (2,48 M€) with SDP far behind (1,37 M€).
Altogether, 2,004 candidates were nominated, 799 of whom were women. About three quarters of the candidates were nominated by parties currently represented in Parliament
. The number of female MPs rose as 84 women were elected (formerly 75), now comprising a record 42% of the 200 MPs.
According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat
, the number of advance voters rose in comparison with the previous election
in 2003. After the Tuesday before the Sunday election, when advance voting ended, the voter turnout had already reached 29.2%, which was more than at the same point in the 2003 elections. However, total voter turnout, at 67.8%, fell short of the 2003 figure, 69.7%, reaching a new low since the 1939 elections
.
Many prominent MPs decided not to stand in the election. Former Prime Minister (1995–2003) and Speaker of the outgoing Parliament, Paavo Lipponen
left his seat, as did the fifth-longest serving minister of all time, Jan-Erik Enestam
, and former Left Alliance
party leader Suvi-Anne Siimes
, who had harshly criticized her party after her resignation as chairman in 2006. Some former MPs made a comeback, former Finance Minister and presidential candidate
Sauli Niinistö
and the first European Green
minister, Pekka Haavisto
, former minister and National Coalition chairman Pertti Salolainen, former foreign minister Paavo Väyrynen
and rock musician Pertti "Veltto" Virtanen
being the most famous examples. Niinistö also set a record for the highest number of personal votes, 60,498, which is almost twice as high as the previous record, and with the application of the d'Hondt method
used in Finland, as many as four other National Coalition candidates were elected to Parliament on the strength of these votes.
The date of the election was near to the 100th anniversary of the first Finnish parliamentary elections
, which were held on the 15–16 March 1907, and were the first elections held under universal suffrage
in Europe.
for a given party, favouring large parties and reducing the proportionality of the result. Because of this, the party leader of the Greens, Tarja Cronberg
, lost her seat in the district of Northern Karelia, the party's only one, despite their getting 11.7 % of the vote there. Her case, made seemingly even more unfair by her impressive personal total of 7,802 votes, greater than that of most of those elected, has been held up in the media as a symbol of the flaws in the present system. The constituences of 2007 were mostly based on the old Counties of Finland, an administrative division dating to 1634; the largest difference was counting Helsinki
as a separate district. The case has sparked a multi-party initiative that could result in a reform, to be effected earliest in 2015.
. It gained ten seats and became the second-largest party in Finland. The main government partners, the Centre Party
and the Social Democrats, both lost ground. With the Left Alliance
also losing seats, the labour parties received the worst result in the 100 year history of Finnish democracy; for the Social Democrats, the result was the worst since 1962, while the Left Alliance has lost seats in both elections held since 1999. The Centre Party, despite the loss, maintained its position as the biggest party in Parliament, with one seat more than the National Coalition. It was also the only time, except for the parliamentary election of 1930
, that the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party
together have an absolute majority in Parliament. The outcome led to the formation of a new center-right government and the left-leaning Social Democrats were left out in opposition for the first time since 1995.
Winners also include the True Finns
, who gained two seats. Party leader Timo Soini
in particular took in a massive personal total of almost 20,000 votes, the third greatest in the country. The Green League
gained one seat with its best ever showing in parliamentary elections, but party leader Tarja Cronberg
lost her seat in the small district of Northern Karelia. The Swedish People's Party gained one seat as well, although losing votes compared to the 2003 elections.
Incumbent Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, as party leader of the Centre Party, formed a new government with Centre Party
, National Coalition, the Greens
and Swedish People's Party. These parties have 125 seats out of 200 in the parliament. The government coalition is centre-right and calls itself "blue-green government" after the blue colour of National Coalition and the green colours of Centre and the Greens.
The election was a major defeat (8 seats lost, 15% fewer won than in 2003) for the Social Democrats, and sparked an internal investigation. The party conducted a campaign that had a simplistic anti-Conservative message. Meanwhile, the trade union SAK, strongly associated with SDP, conducted a similar anti-Conservative campaign. The association between the two organizations was abundantly clear, as the SDP's chairman Eero Heinäluoma
was a former SAK director. The campaigns failed spectacularly, and according to the internal investigation, the attempt to challenge the Conservatives was a failure. One TV commercial, which showed a capitalist
devouring a meal and laughing how "workers do not vote", drew widely publicized criticism even before its launch, when the TV commercial was shown in news (and on YouTube
). The SDP's internal investigation also pointed out that the party's campaign promises had poor credibility, since the SDP had been in the government for years but (at least perceivably) had not delivered on them. For example, the SDP chairman Eero Heinäluoma had prevented a rise in the student benefit
.
As many as eight very small parties were removed from the registry of political parties as a result of their repeated failure to gain seats in the 2003 and 2007 elections: Suomen työväenpuolue (Workers Party
), Itsenäisyyspuolue ("Independence Party"), Liberaalit, Muutosvoimat Suomi ("Forces of Change Finland"), Köyhien Asialla ("For the Poor"), Yhteisvastuu puolue ("Common Responsibility Party"), Suomen Isänmaallinen Kansallis-Liitto (named after IKL, or Isänmaallinen kansanliike, an organization banned in 1944) and Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset (Finnish People's Blue-Whites
). Currently, there are three parties in the registry that failed to gain seats in the 2007 elections: Communist Party of Finland
, Suomen Senioripuolue (a pensioners' party) and For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party
. The removal is not punitive, however, as these parties are allowed register themselves again.
After the Finnish Parliamentary elections on 18 March 2007, the seats were divided among eight parties as follows:
Jyrki Katainen
, Paula Lehtomäki
and Jyri Häkämies
received campaign support autumn 2008 from a company that was owned in Luxembourg
and managed from Virgin Islands
. According to Ilta-Sanomat (21.5.2008) support was given by Ahti Vilppula connected Mekaanikkotalo. It is owned by Procomex in Luxemburg and further by Kilbrin Investments Limited in the Virgin Islands
.
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
(parliament of Finland), held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting
Early voting
Early voting is the process by which electors can vote on a single or series of days prior to an election. Early voting can take place remotely, such as by mail, or in person, usually in designated early voting polling stations. The availability and time periods for early voting vary based on...
was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.
Election themes included a reduction of income tax and VAT
Value added tax
A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...
on food. A proposal for a guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income is a system of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test and either availability for the labour...
was introduced by some parties. The election debates were characterised by the high economic growth in Finland in recent years, which was thought to mean the government would have extra money to use on welfare services and transfer payments. Largest advertising budgets were spent by the Coalition Party (2,46 M€) and the Center Party (2,48 M€) with SDP far behind (1,37 M€).
Altogether, 2,004 candidates were nominated, 799 of whom were women. About three quarters of the candidates were nominated by parties currently represented in Parliament
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
. The number of female MPs rose as 84 women were elected (formerly 75), now comprising a record 42% of the 200 MPs.
According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
, the number of advance voters rose in comparison with the previous election
Finnish parliamentary election, 2003
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2003 was the 34th election to the Eduskunta , held on 16 March 2003 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term...
in 2003. After the Tuesday before the Sunday election, when advance voting ended, the voter turnout had already reached 29.2%, which was more than at the same point in the 2003 elections. However, total voter turnout, at 67.8%, fell short of the 2003 figure, 69.7%, reaching a new low since the 1939 elections
Finnish parliamentary election, 1939
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1939.-Background:The leading issues of the 1939 Finnish parliamentary election, held on 1 and 2 July, were the distribution of the growing prosperity's benefits, the prospects for the centre-left coalition government's continuation, the...
.
Many prominent MPs decided not to stand in the election. Former Prime Minister (1995–2003) and Speaker of the outgoing Parliament, Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005...
left his seat, as did the fifth-longest serving minister of all time, Jan-Erik Enestam
Jan-Erik Enestam
Jan-Erik Enestam is a Finland-Swedish politician from the Swedish People's Party. He has a degree from the Åbo Akademi university in Turku....
, and former Left Alliance
Left Alliance (Finland)
The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990....
party leader Suvi-Anne Siimes
Suvi-Anne Siimes
Sini Maaria Suvi-Anne Siimes is a former chair of the Finnish Left Alliance. She quit the party in 2006 because she did not want to support the party's former taistoists ....
, who had harshly criticized her party after her resignation as chairman in 2006. Some former MPs made a comeback, former Finance Minister and presidential candidate
Finnish presidential election, 2006
The Finnish Presidential election of 2006 saw the re-election of Tarja Halonen as President of Finland for a second six-year term.The first round of voting in Finnish presidential elections always takes place on the third Sunday of January, in this case 15 January 2006...
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician from National Coalition Party. He is also President of the Football Association of Finland. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the National Coalition Party candidate in the 2006 presidential election...
and the first European Green
Worldwide green parties
A Green party or ecologist party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of Green politics. These principles usually include social justice, reliance on grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and an emphasis on environmentalism...
minister, Pekka Haavisto
Pekka Haavisto
Pekka Haavisto is a Finnish politician representing the Green League. He was re-elected to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of March 2007 after an absence of 12 years. He is also a member of the Helsinki City Council.Haavisto was a member of the Parliament of Finland...
, former minister and National Coalition chairman Pertti Salolainen, former foreign minister Paavo Väyrynen
Paavo Väyrynen
Paavo Matti Väyrynen is a Finnish veteran politician of the Centre Party. Väyrynen has held several ministerial portfolios and is also a former Member of the European Parliament.-Career:...
and rock musician Pertti "Veltto" Virtanen
Veltto Virtanen
Pertti Olavi "Veltto" Virtanen is a rock personality, presidential candidate, and a member of the Finnish Parliament from Tampere, Finland....
being the most famous examples. Niinistö also set a record for the highest number of personal votes, 60,498, which is almost twice as high as the previous record, and with the application of the d'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
used in Finland, as many as four other National Coalition candidates were elected to Parliament on the strength of these votes.
The date of the election was near to the 100th anniversary of the first Finnish parliamentary elections
Finnish parliamentary election, 1907
The Finnish parliamentary election in 1907, in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, was the first parliamentary election in which members of parliament were elected to the new Parliament of Finland by universal suffrage....
, which were held on the 15–16 March 1907, and were the first elections held under universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
in Europe.
Election districts
Some constituencies elect only six or seven MPs, resulting in a high election thresholdElection threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
for a given party, favouring large parties and reducing the proportionality of the result. Because of this, the party leader of the Greens, Tarja Cronberg
Tarja Cronberg
Tarja Cronberg is a Finnish politician and former Minister of Labour. She was also a Member of the Finnish Parliament , representing the Green League...
, lost her seat in the district of Northern Karelia, the party's only one, despite their getting 11.7 % of the vote there. Her case, made seemingly even more unfair by her impressive personal total of 7,802 votes, greater than that of most of those elected, has been held up in the media as a symbol of the flaws in the present system. The constituences of 2007 were mostly based on the old Counties of Finland, an administrative division dating to 1634; the largest difference was counting Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
as a separate district. The case has sparked a multi-party initiative that could result in a reform, to be effected earliest in 2015.
Results
The elections were a major victory for the opposition National Coalition Party under Jyrki KatainenJyrki Katainen
Jyrki Tapani Katainen is the Prime Minister of Finland and chairman of the country's largest party, the National Coalition Party.-Career:...
. It gained ten seats and became the second-largest party in Finland. The main government partners, the Centre Party
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
and the Social Democrats, both lost ground. With the Left Alliance
Left Alliance (Finland)
The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990....
also losing seats, the labour parties received the worst result in the 100 year history of Finnish democracy; for the Social Democrats, the result was the worst since 1962, while the Left Alliance has lost seats in both elections held since 1999. The Centre Party, despite the loss, maintained its position as the biggest party in Parliament, with one seat more than the National Coalition. It was also the only time, except for the parliamentary election of 1930
Finnish parliamentary election, 1930
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 October 1930. The Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest in Parliament with 66 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 65.9%.-Background:...
, that the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party
National Coalition Party (Finland)
The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...
together have an absolute majority in Parliament. The outcome led to the formation of a new center-right government and the left-leaning Social Democrats were left out in opposition for the first time since 1995.
Winners also include the True Finns
True Finns
True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...
, who gained two seats. Party leader Timo Soini
Timo Soini
Timo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician, and co-founder and current leader of the True Finns party. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Parliament of Finland. Well-known as an EU-sceptic populist, he was elected a member of the Espoo city...
in particular took in a massive personal total of almost 20,000 votes, the third greatest in the country. The Green League
Green League
The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
gained one seat with its best ever showing in parliamentary elections, but party leader Tarja Cronberg
Tarja Cronberg
Tarja Cronberg is a Finnish politician and former Minister of Labour. She was also a Member of the Finnish Parliament , representing the Green League...
lost her seat in the small district of Northern Karelia. The Swedish People's Party gained one seat as well, although losing votes compared to the 2003 elections.
Incumbent Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, as party leader of the Centre Party, formed a new government with Centre Party
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
, National Coalition, the Greens
Green League
The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
and Swedish People's Party. These parties have 125 seats out of 200 in the parliament. The government coalition is centre-right and calls itself "blue-green government" after the blue colour of National Coalition and the green colours of Centre and the Greens.
The election was a major defeat (8 seats lost, 15% fewer won than in 2003) for the Social Democrats, and sparked an internal investigation. The party conducted a campaign that had a simplistic anti-Conservative message. Meanwhile, the trade union SAK, strongly associated with SDP, conducted a similar anti-Conservative campaign. The association between the two organizations was abundantly clear, as the SDP's chairman Eero Heinäluoma
Eero Heinäluoma
Eero Olavi Heinäluoma is the current Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen in June 2008....
was a former SAK director. The campaigns failed spectacularly, and according to the internal investigation, the attempt to challenge the Conservatives was a failure. One TV commercial, which showed a capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
devouring a meal and laughing how "workers do not vote", drew widely publicized criticism even before its launch, when the TV commercial was shown in news (and on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
). The SDP's internal investigation also pointed out that the party's campaign promises had poor credibility, since the SDP had been in the government for years but (at least perceivably) had not delivered on them. For example, the SDP chairman Eero Heinäluoma had prevented a rise in the student benefit
Student benefit
Student benefits are transfer payments that are given to students for purposes of full-time study, and require progress in studies, or obtaining academic credits. Student benefits are found in countries where education is free of charge, e.g. Finland and Sweden...
.
As many as eight very small parties were removed from the registry of political parties as a result of their repeated failure to gain seats in the 2003 and 2007 elections: Suomen työväenpuolue (Workers Party
Workers Party of Finland
Workers' Party of Finland is a left-wing political party in Finland. The STP was founded in 2006 as a successor to the Alternative League .In the 2007 parliamentary election the party obtained 1,764 votes...
), Itsenäisyyspuolue ("Independence Party"), Liberaalit, Muutosvoimat Suomi ("Forces of Change Finland"), Köyhien Asialla ("For the Poor"), Yhteisvastuu puolue ("Common Responsibility Party"), Suomen Isänmaallinen Kansallis-Liitto (named after IKL, or Isänmaallinen kansanliike, an organization banned in 1944) and Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset (Finnish People's Blue-Whites
Finnish People's Blue-whites
The Finnish People's Blue-whites was a Finnish political party with a far-right nationalist agenda, led by the controversial political figure Olavi Mäenpää. It was founded in 1993 as Independent People's Front , and was known as National Front from 1997 until 2001...
). Currently, there are three parties in the registry that failed to gain seats in the 2007 elections: Communist Party of Finland
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used...
, Suomen Senioripuolue (a pensioners' party) and For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party
For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party
Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism is a political party in Finland. It was founded in 1988 to secure the existence of an independent Marxist-Leninist party...
. The removal is not punitive, however, as these parties are allowed register themselves again.
After the Finnish Parliamentary elections on 18 March 2007, the seats were divided among eight parties as follows:
| Party Political party A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions... | Votes | swing Swing (politics) An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties... | % of votes | swing | MPs Member of Parliament A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... | swing | % of MPs | MPs%/votes% | swing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre Party Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament... |
640 428 | 48 963 | 23,1 | 1,6% | 51 | 4 | 25.5 | 1,10 | 0,01 | ||||
| National Coalition Party National Coalition Party (Finland) The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns... |
616 841 | 98 937 | 22,3 | 3,7% | 50 | 10 | 25.0 | 1,12 | 0,04 | ||||
| Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many... |
594 194 | 89 029 | 21,4 | 3,1% | 45 | 8 | 22.5 | 1,05 | 0,03 | ||||
| Left Alliance Left Alliance (Finland) The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990.... |
244 296 | 32 856 | 8,82 | 1,1% | 17 | 2 | 8.5 | 0,96 | 0 | ||||
| Green League Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö.... |
234 429 | 10 865 | 8,46 | 0,45% | 15 | 1 | 7.5 | 0,89 | 0,02 | ||||
| Christian Democrats Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of... |
134 790 | 14 197 | 4,86 | 0,47% | 7 | 0 | 3.5 | 0,72 | 0,06 | ||||
| Swedish People's Party | 126 520 | 2 304 | 4,57 | 0,05% | 9 | 1 | 4.5 | 0,98 | 0,11 | ||||
| True Finns True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party... |
112 256 | 68 440 | 4,05 | 2,5% | 5 | 2 | 2.5 | 0,62 | 0,34 | ||||
| Communist Party | 18 277 | 2 802 | 0,660 | 0,10% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Senior Citizen Party | 16 715 | 11 369 | 0,603 | 0,41% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Åland representative | 12 588 | 984 | 0,454 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 1,10 | ||||||
Minor parties
| Party Political party A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions... | Votes | swing Swing (politics) An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties... | % of votes | swing | MPs Member of Parliament A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... | swing | % of MPs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence Party | 5 541 | 5 541 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Finnish People's Blue-whites Finnish People's Blue-whites The Finnish People's Blue-whites was a Finnish political party with a far-right nationalist agenda, led by the controversial political figure Olavi Mäenpää. It was founded in 1993 as Independent People's Front , and was known as National Front from 1997 until 2001... |
3 913 | 666 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Liberals Liberals (Finland) Liberals is a free market liberal party in Finland. Founded in 1965 as a reunification of the People's Party of Finland and Liberal League. Originally named Liberal People's Party , it restyled its name as Liberals in 2000.... |
3 171 | 5 605 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| For the Poor For the Poor For the Poor is a Finnish political party, not situated anywhere on the traditional political map. It was founded in November 2002... |
2 521 | 1 073 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Communist Workers Party | 2 007 | 901 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Workers Party Workers Party of Finland Workers' Party of Finland is a left-wing political party in Finland. The STP was founded in 2006 as a successor to the Alternative League .In the 2007 parliamentary election the party obtained 1,764 votes... |
1 764 | 1 764 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| National Popular Movement of Finland | 821 | 1 819 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Joint Responsibility Party | 164 | 240 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Party Political party A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions... | Votes | swing Swing (politics) An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties... | % of votes | swing | MPs Member of Parliament A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... | swing | % of MPs | MPs %/votes % | swing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2 771 236 | 2 377 | 100 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 100 | 1,00 | 0 | |
| 3 biggest | 1 851 463 | 39 055 | 66,8 | 0,9% | 146 | 2 | 73.0 | 1,09 | 0 | |
| The cabinet Executive (government) Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term... |
1 373 730 | 141 280 | 49,6 | 4,7% | 106 | 11 | 53.0 | 1,07 | 0,03 | |
| The opposition Opposition (parliamentary) Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state... |
1 397 506 | 138 903 | 50,4 | 4,7% | 94 | 11 | 47.0 | 0,93 | 0,01 | |
Campaign financing
Campaign financing was a scandal. Tens of representatives had not given the report of the financing within the accepted time. The law gave no punishment for it. Companies and organization like Ruukki Group, Ajanta, Kehittyvien Maakuntien Suomi and Nova Group promoted specially the construction projects and law by some 400 000 € in total.Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Tapani Katainen is the Prime Minister of Finland and chairman of the country's largest party, the National Coalition Party.-Career:...
, Paula Lehtomäki
Paula Lehtomäki
Paula Lehtomäki is a Finnish politician. She started her political career in 1996, when she was elected to the Kuhmo Town Council. In 1999 she was elected to the Finnish Parliament, and again in 2003. In 2002, she was elected to be the vice chairman of Keskusta...
and Jyri Häkämies
Jyri Häkämies
Jyri Jukka Häkämies is the current Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs and a representative of the National Coalition Party, and the minister responsible for supervision of government enterprises with the exception of Patria, which is supervised by Jan Vapaavuori...
received campaign support autumn 2008 from a company that was owned in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and managed from Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. According to Ilta-Sanomat (21.5.2008) support was given by Ahti Vilppula connected Mekaanikkotalo. It is owned by Procomex in Luxemburg and further by Kilbrin Investments Limited in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
.
External links
- Ministry of Justice election site (in English)
- History of Finnish Parliament (in English)
- Centenary of women's full political rights in Finland (in English)
- Election site of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) (in English)
- Finland getting centre-right government with a shade of green -Helsingin Sanomat
- Would you vote for someone with a face like yours? -Reuters
- Political campaigning to continue on election day -Helsingin Sanomat
- Advance voting for Parliamentary Elections begins today -Helsingin Sanomat
- Poll: Centre Party leads in advance of Sunday election -Helsingin Sanomat
- Poll: Centre-SDP government overwhelming favourite -Helsingin Sanomat
- Finnish MP seeks votes in Klingon -Reuters
- NSD: European Election Database - Finland publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991-2007