Left Alliance (Finland)

Left Alliance
Finnish name	Vasemmistoliitto
Swedish name	Vänsterförbundet
Chairman	Paavo Arhinmäki
Secretary	Sirpa Puhakka
Founded	1990
Merger of	SKDL & SKP
Headquarters	Viherniemenkatu 5 A FI-00530 HELSINKI
Newspaper	Kansan Uutiset
Youth wing	Left Youth
Women's wing	Left Women
Children's wing	Democratic Union of Finnish Pioneers
Membership  (2011)	10,500
Ideology	Eco-socialism Democratic socialism
Political position	Left-wing
International affiliation	None
European affiliation	Nordic Green Left Alliance / Party of the European Left
European Parliament Group	European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Official colours	Red, Green
Parliament	12 / 200
European Parliament	0 / 13
Municipalities	833 / 10,412
Website
http://www.vasemmisto.fi/
Politics of Finland Political parties Elections

The Left Alliance (Finnish: Vasemmistoliitto, Swedish: Vänsterförbundet) 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.

In parliamentary elections, Left Alliance share of the vote has been close to ten percent. The Left Alliance had three portfolios in the two cabinets of Paavo Lipponen (1995-2003). It is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance. The party currently has 12 MPs in the Finnish Eduskunta: it won 14 seats in the latest election, but two MPs were expelled from the parliamentary group after repeatedly breaking from the official party line. The party lost its only remaining MEP in the 2009 election.

The party organ is the weekly Kansan Uutiset.

History

The party was founded as a result of a merger between the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), Democratic Alternative (an orthodox pro-Soviet communist party), the Finnish Women's Democratic League (SNDL) and the Communist Party of Finland (SKP). The founding meeting was held in April 1990 in Helsinki, following the publishing of the April Declaration, which emphasised various ideals.

The party's short history has been characterised by internal disputes and bickering, as it was formed by people with very different views on society. There have been several defections from the Left Alliance to the Social Democratic Party and the newly formed Communist Party of Finland. In 2005, the party's former secretary and Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions's assistant head Matti Viialainen formed a society to promote merger between the two largest Finnish left-wing political parties, the Left Alliance and the Social Democrats. This caused an outrage within the Left Alliance, and Viialainen was condemned for wanting to break up the party. Viialainen would subsequently leave the party and run for parliament on the Social Democrat ticket in 2007.

In 2006, the party's leader Suvi-Anne Siimes announced her resignation from the post, and the party, as a result of long-standing feuds with the leftist section of the party. On May 13, 2006, Martti Korhonen was elected as the new party leader. He was followed by Paavo Arhinmäki in June 2009, following the party's bad performance in the 2009 EU parliamentary election.

Ideology

Left Alliance party program adopted by the 5th Party Congress 16 June 2007: The fundamental values of Left Alliance are equality, freedom and sustainable development. Democracy must be strengthened. Democracy must be stronger than the power of capital. Challenging the global capitalism. Getting world into solidarity and stop Finnish polarisation. Freedom and the right to work and income for all people. Environmentally conscious Finland.

Some in the party accept the EU and others reject it. The younger generation is more pro-EU than the older.

Chairs

• Claes Andersson (1990–1998)
• Suvi-Anne Siimes (1998–2006)
• Martti Korhonen (2006–2009)
• Paavo Arhinmäki (2009–)

Elections results

Parliamentary elections Year MPs Votes 1991 19 274 639 10.08 % 1995 22 310 340 11.16 % 1999 20 291 675 10.88 % 2003 19 277 152 9.93 % 2007 17 244 296 8.82 % 2011 14 238 437 8.15 %

Municipal elections Year Councillors Votes 1992 1 319 310 757 11.67 % 1996 1 128 246 597 10.37 % 2000 1 027 219 671 9.88 % 2004 987 228 358 9.56 % 2008 833 224 170 8.78 %

European parliament elections Year MEPs Votes 1996 2 236 490 10.51 % 1999 1 112 757 9.08 % 2004 1 151 291 9.13 % 2009 0 98 690 5.93 %

Presidential elections Year Candidate Votes 1994 Claes Andersson 122 820 3.8 % 2000 none n/a n/a 2006 supported Tarja Halonen n/a n/a 2012 Paavo Arhinmäki 167 359 5.5 %

External links

• Left Alliance website (English)