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==Campaign==
==Campaign==
{{expand section|date=March 2011}}
{{expand section|date=March 2011}}
;True Finns
===True Finns===
True Finns have said that Finland should not financially support the [[European Financial Stability Facility]] that led to bailouts for Ireland and Greece. Timo Soini asked "How come they (the European Union) can’t see the euro doesn’t work?"<ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/true-finns-threaten-debt-bailout-plan-as-april-election-nears-euro-credit.html</ref> The party [[manifesto]] said that they would support a [[capital gains]] tax increase from 28% to 30%<ref>http://www2.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/domestic-news/politics/14413-true-finns-propose-progressive-capital-gains-tax-scheme-.html</ref> and an increased tax on [[alcohol]]. They also oppose mention of Finland’s EU membership in the constitution and want to cut social [[welfare]] for immigrants.<ref>http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/02/true_finns_publish_election_manifesto_2391059.html?origin=rss</ref> He also suggested Finland should unilaterally withdraw from the [[emission trade system]] and some other international commitments and that giving up the euro was an option. While speculating about a possible ministerial portfolio he later backed down on commitments when journalists asked him if the issues would be True Finns' demands in any possible government formation talks citing the proposals as his opinion and not necessarily in place for a government’s policy programme. He continued to maintain that the EU membership issue in the constitution would be threshold issue in government talks. The ''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'' suggested that these demands could prove detrimental to a chance for True Finns to join a governing coalition.<ref name="constitution">http://www.hs.fi/english/article/COMMENTARY+Will+Timo+Soini+stumble+on+his+own+threshold/1135263478484</ref>
True Finns have said that Finland should not financially support the [[European Financial Stability Facility]] that led to bailouts for Ireland and Greece. Timo Soini asked "How come they (the European Union) can’t see the euro doesn’t work?"<ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/true-finns-threaten-debt-bailout-plan-as-april-election-nears-euro-credit.html</ref> The party [[manifesto]] said that they would support a [[capital gains]] tax increase from 28% to 30%<ref>http://www2.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/domestic-news/politics/14413-true-finns-propose-progressive-capital-gains-tax-scheme-.html</ref> and an increased tax on [[alcohol]]. They also oppose mention of Finland’s EU membership in the constitution and want to cut social [[welfare]] for immigrants.<ref>http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/02/true_finns_publish_election_manifesto_2391059.html?origin=rss</ref> He also suggested Finland should unilaterally withdraw from the [[emission trade system]] and some other international commitments and that giving up the euro was an option. While speculating about a possible ministerial portfolio he later backed down on commitments when journalists asked him if the issues would be True Finns' demands in any possible government formation talks citing the proposals as his opinion and not necessarily in place for a government’s policy programme. He continued to maintain that the EU membership issue in the constitution would be threshold issue in government talks. The ''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'' suggested that these demands could prove detrimental to a chance for True Finns to join a governing coalition.<ref name="constitution">http://www.hs.fi/english/article/COMMENTARY+Will+Timo+Soini+stumble+on+his+own+threshold/1135263478484</ref>


Revision as of 15:04, 19 March 2011

Finnish parliamentary election, 2011
← 2007 April 17, 2011 (2011-04-17)[1] 2015 →
All 200 seats to the Parliament
  Mari Kiviniemi Jyrki Katainen Jutta Urpilainen
Leader Mari Kiviniemi Jyrki Katainen Jutta Urpilainen
Party Centre National Coalition SDP
Leader since 2010 2004 2008
Last election 51 seats, 23,1% 50 seats, 22,3% 45 seats, 21,4%
  Paavo Arhinmäki Anni Sinnemäki Päivi Räsänen
Leader Paavo Arhinmäki Anni Sinnemäki Päivi Räsänen
Party Left Alliance Green KD
Leader since 2009 2009 2004
Last election 17 seats, 8.82% 15 seats, 8.46% 7 seats, 4.86%
  Stefan Wallin Timo Soini Yrjö Hakanen
Leader Stefan Wallin Timo Soini Yrjö Hakanen
Party RKP Finns Communist Party
Leader since 2006 1997 1994
Last election 9 seats, 4,57% 5 seats, 4,05% 0 seats, 0.7%
Incumbent Prime Minister

Mari Kiviniemi
Centre



Politics of Finland
State
Executive
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Recent elections
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Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

The election to the Eduskunta will be held on 17 April 2011, with advance voting between 6 and 12 April,[1] including for Finnish expatriates.[2] All 200 seats of the parliament are open for election.

Background

The current government is considering proposals for a new constitution, including a controversial phrase in the first paragraph of the third clause that that "Finland is a member of the European Union." It was speculated that the current government could finalise a new constitution before the election but the changes to the constitution would require the support of the next Eduskunta in order to pass.[3]

Electoral method

The 200 Members of Parliament to the Eduskunta are elected using the proportional D'Hondt method: the voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choosing within a party list. Electoral alliances between parties are allowed, but they are rare in this election, as the parties are preparing in advance for the future election reform, which does not provide for electoral alliances.

The country is divided into 15 constituencies. (Åland is the only single member constituency and it also has its own party system.) The constituencies are as follows:[4]

Constituency Number of MPs
Helsinki 21
Uusimaa 35
Finland Proper 17
Satakunta 9
Åland 1
Tavastia 14
Pirkanmaa 18
Kymi 12
South Savonia 6
North Savonia 9
North Karelia 6
Vaasa 17
Central Finland 10
Oulu 18
Lapland 7

Following the problem-ridden[5] limited electronic voting experiment of the 2008 municipal elections, the Ministry of Justice announced in January 2010 that there would be no electronic voting at this time, but that the ministry would be monitoring the international arenas for development of online voting.[6]

Campaign funding

This would also be the first election since the Act on a Candidate’s Election Funding came into force in May 2009, along with the 2010 amendments to the Act on Political Parties. Both acts of law deal with issues pertaining to the disclosure of the sources of campaign finance and expenses. Every candidate must disclose its source of funding, as well as the parties as whole.[7]

Campaign funding starts six months before election day and ends two weeks after the election regardless of when the costs are actually paid. The candidates must file a public report with The National Audit Office detailing their sources of all contributions of over 1,500 euros in value raised in support of the election campaign. The funds include expenses from the candidate’s own funds, loans taken out for the campaign and contributions received by either the individual or a group that supports the candidate.[8][7]

Candidates are barred from receiving anonymous contributions of over 1,500 euros in value.[8]

Parties

Further information: List of political parties in Finland

In November 2010, there were 17 registered parties. Eight of the parties are represented in the current parliament: Centre Party, National Coalition Party, Social Democrats, Left Alliance, Green League, Swedish People's Party, Christian Democrats and True Finns. Nine of the registered parties do not have representation in the parliament before the elections: Communist Party of Finland, Senior Citizens' Party of Finland, Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism, Workers Party of Finland, Independence Party, For the Poor, Pirate Party, Change 2011, and Freedom Party.[9]

Party conferences

All major[vague] parties held party conferences in May or June 2010 where they elected the party leadership for the election and approved an election manifesto.

The Green League held its party conference between 22 and 23 May. The current Minister for Labour, Anni Sinnemäki, was re-elected as the party leader.[citation needed]

The Social Democrats re-elected Jutta Urpilainen as chairman at the party conference held from 28 to 30 May in Joensuu. She beat Erkki Tuomioja, Tarja Filatov, Ilkka Kantola and Miapetra Kumpula-Natri after she got 218 votes, Tuomioja got 132 votes and the others received no votes.[10] Former CEO of the state-owned Finnish Broadcasting Company Mikael Jungner became party secretary. Helsingin Sanomat reported that he was expected to become a "high profile" party secretary with "a pivotal position when the SDP tries to secure a comeback victory in the elections."[11]

Then Prime Minister of Finland and chairman of the Centre Party Matti Vanhanen informed that he would be stepping down from both positions during June 2010. In a party conference held between June 11 and 13, then Minister for Regional and Municipal Affairs, Mari Kiviniemi, was elected as the new chairman. Mr. Vanhanen stepped down from the position of Prime Minister a few days later. He was replaced by Mrs. Kiviniemi, who became the second female Prime Minister of Finland in history.[12]

National Coalition Party reelected the current Minister for Finance, Jyrki Katainen, as the party leader on June 12.[13]

Retiring incumbents

Matti Vanhanen, the Prime Minister of Finland between June 2003 – June 2010, began to work as the Chief Executive of Finnish Family Firms Association and will not be participating in the elections.[14]

The current Speaker Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party) will not be running for Parliament, despite receiving a record number of votes in the 2007 election. It is anticipated that he will be the National Coalition Party's presidential candidate in 2012. [15]

Also the following ex-ministers sitting in the current Parliament have announced that they will not be running in these elections: Matti Ahde, Antti Kalliomäki and Jacob Söderman from the Social Democrats; Tanja Karpela and Hannes Manninen from the Centre and Raimo Vistbacka from the True Finns.[citation needed]

Campaign

True Finns

True Finns have said that Finland should not financially support the European Financial Stability Facility that led to bailouts for Ireland and Greece. Timo Soini asked "How come they (the European Union) can’t see the euro doesn’t work?"[16] The party manifesto said that they would support a capital gains tax increase from 28% to 30%[17] and an increased tax on alcohol. They also oppose mention of Finland’s EU membership in the constitution and want to cut social welfare for immigrants.[18] He also suggested Finland should unilaterally withdraw from the emission trade system and some other international commitments and that giving up the euro was an option. While speculating about a possible ministerial portfolio he later backed down on commitments when journalists asked him if the issues would be True Finns' demands in any possible government formation talks citing the proposals as his opinion and not necessarily in place for a government’s policy programme. He continued to maintain that the EU membership issue in the constitution would be threshold issue in government talks. The Helsingin Sanomat suggested that these demands could prove detrimental to a chance for True Finns to join a governing coalition.[3]

Incumbent Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi said that she was ready to work with any party in Finland. When pressed by the media she said that she would not rule out working with the True Finns pending cooperation on negotiating a government platform.[19] True Finns and the Green League have both confirmed that the two parties are ideologically too far from each other to sit in the same coalition.[20]

Debates

The three biggest parties partook in a debate organised by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum in front of a crowd of businessmen. The Centre Party's Katainen said that as a result of February polling there were now four prime ministerial candidates from the four largest parties. However, True Finns' chairman and MEP Timo Soini was excluded because the various pollings presented at the time were different. All parties that the retirement age must not be lowered from 63. The SDP's Urpilainen said that the party would maintain a need to cut pensions and that increasing the retirement age is a form of cutting pensions; to support this she pointed out an earlier retirement age law at 65-years-old and that the age had been lowered. She also added that because of a large proportion of disabled pensioners younger people should join the workforce quickly after graduating. Katainen and the National Coalition's Kiviniemi said they would consider raising the retirement age to lengthen working years. Kiviniemi said that "Some of the directors of our large corporations are retiring at the age of 59-60. At the same time demands are being presented that people should work for longer." Urpilainen also said that lowering the value added tax on food was mistake, though she said that it should not be raised either.[21]

The coming televised "prime ministerial" debates will feature the chairmen of the four parties leading in the opinion polls.[22][23]

Polling

Taloustutkimus performs monthly telephone polls on party popularity for the Finnish Broadcasting Company. The monthly sample size varies between 2,900-3,900 with a margin of error of about ±1.8 %.[24] (Polling does not include Åland, as it has its own party system.)[25]

Party 2007 Jan 2010 Feb 2010 Mar 2010 Apr 2010 May 2010 Jun 2010 Jul 2010 Aug 2010 Sep 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011
Centre Party 23.1% 20.7% 19.6% 20.7% 20.6% 18.6% 19.2% 19.7% 19.7% 19.0% 17.6% 18.6% 18.8% 18.5% 18.9% 18.1%
National Coalition Party 22.3% 23.2% 23.6% 22.9% 22.7% 23.0% 21.9% 23.0% 22.8% 21.9% 21.7% 21.1% 21.2% 20.4% 20.9% 20.1%
Social Democrats 21.4% 21.0% 21.2% 21.2% 21.3% 21.3% 21.1% 20.5% 20.4% 19.8% 19.1% 18.4% 18.1% 18.9% 17.5% 18.1%
Left Alliance 8.8% 8.1% 8.3% 8.0% 7.6% 7.7% 8.1% 7.8% 7.5% 7.2% 7.8% 7.9% 8.1% 7.2% 7.3% 7.3%
Green League 8.5% 10.1% 10.4% 10.4% 10.3% 10.3% 10.6% 9.5% 9.2% 9.9% 9.7% 9.1% 9.5% 9.2% 8.5% 9.0%
Christian Democrats 4.9% 4.6% 4.3% 4.3% 4.8% 4.2% 4.2% 4.3% 3.9% 4.4% 4.6% 4.5% 3.8% 3.8% 4.2% 4.6%
Swedish People's Party 4.6% 4.1% 4.1% 4.0% 3.6% 3.7% 3.9% 4.0% 4.4% 3.9% 4.2% 4.0% 3.4% 4.1% 3.9% 3.8%
True Finns 4.1% 6.4% 6.3% 6.8% 7.8% 9.6% 9.8% 10.1% 10.7% 12.5% 14.3% 14.9% 15.3% 16.6% 16.9% 17.2%
Taloustutkimus/YLE

Other polls too have indicated significant rise in the True Finns support: a poll made by TNS Gallup for Helsingin Sanomat in march 2011 gave True Finns 18.4%, making it the second most popular party behind the National Coalition Party.[26] Surveys in individual constituencies have indicated, for example, that the True Finns were eating into the Centre Party's vote bank in Lapland and that the Left Alliance could also lose one of its two seats in the constituency.[27] Similar developments have been polled in the other constituencies; Suomen Kuvalehti said that on the whole the True Finns were attracting supporters from all the three largest parties and that one-fifth of its voters did not vote in the last election.[28]

A study conducted by Swedish and Finnish economists found that there is "a greater effect of good looks, in terms of more votes for candidates on the right."[29] A poll of Finnish teachers, mostly from southern and western Finland, indicated that 41% questioned by Opettaja-lehti ("Teacher Magazine") wanted limits of 20-30% on immigrant students in schools and daycare centres. A 75% majority also said that immigrants should be dispersed throughout the country to avoid concentrations of immigrant populations within certain areas. A majority also said that they had received no training to teach immigrants.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b "Election dates". Ministry of Justice. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  2. ^ http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=ph&news_id=8309
  3. ^ a b http://www.hs.fi/english/article/COMMENTARY+Will+Timo+Soini+stumble+on+his+own+threshold/1135263478484
  4. ^ http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2010/20100958
  5. ^ "New municipal elections in Vihti, Karkkila, and Kauniainen". Ministry of Justice. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Electronic voting will not be developed further on the current basis - Voting on the Internet is a probable development trend". Ministry of Justice. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Election Funding". Vaalit.fi service. Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Instructions for failing an election funding disclosure" (PDF) (in Finnish). National Audit Office of Finland. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  9. ^ "List of Registered Parties". Ministry of Justice. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  10. ^ http://www.sdp.fi/sites/www.sdp.fi/files/politiikka/PTK_2008.pdf
  11. ^ Helsingin Sanomat (May 28, 2010). "Jutta Urpilainen unanimously chosen for second term as SDP leader; ex-YLE managing director Mikael Jungner becomes party secretary". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  12. ^ Finnish Broadcasting Company (June 12, 2010). "Mari Kiviniemi Wins Centre Chair, Taking Over as PM". Finnish Broadcasting Company. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  13. ^ Finnish Broadcasting Company (June 12, 2010). "Katainen Continues as NCP Chair". Finnish Broadcasting Company. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  14. ^ "Ex-PM Vanhanen to head Finnish Family Firms Association". Helsinki Times. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  15. ^ Finnish Broadcasting Company (May 1, 2010). "Niinistö Not Running for Parliament". Finnish Broadcasting Company. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  16. ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/true-finns-threaten-debt-bailout-plan-as-april-election-nears-euro-credit.html
  17. ^ http://www2.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/domestic-news/politics/14413-true-finns-propose-progressive-capital-gains-tax-scheme-.html
  18. ^ http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/02/true_finns_publish_election_manifesto_2391059.html?origin=rss
  19. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/03/finland-election-idUSOSN00506620110303
  20. ^ http://www.iltasanomat.fi/vaalit2011/Perussuomalaiset%20ja%20vihre%C3%A4t%20eiv%C3%A4t%20mahdu%20samaan%20hallitukseen/art-1288373719587.html
  21. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Katainen+Finland+now+has+four+prime+minister+candidates/1135263735615
  22. ^ http://www.iltalehti.fi/vaalit/2011021413185274_vl.shtmll
  23. ^ http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/kotimaa.shtml/2011/02/1273535/soini-osallistuu-mtv3n-paaministeritenttiin
  24. ^ "Puolueiden kannatusarviot" (in Finnish). Sections for 2010, 2009 and 2008: Taloustutkimus. Retrieved 27 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  25. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Poll+gives+new+record+for+support+for+True+Finns/1135263311508
  26. ^ http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/artikkeli/Perussuomalaiset+nousivat+gallupkakkosiksi/1135264670843
  27. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Survey+indicates+True+Finns+are+taking+votes+from+Centre+Party+in+Lapland/1135263130357
  28. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Magazine+claims+True+Finns+are+attracting+supporters+from+all+three+large+parties/1135261265000
  29. ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iWI-Ekd20c4ZtJnh6hJhZmUDisAA?docId=CNG.97fd7d31409a22b937a0af220188ab56.311
  30. ^ http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/02/poll_41_percent_of_finnish_teachers_want_immigrant_quotas_2384000.html
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