1962 Finnish parliamentary election

1962 Finnish parliamentary election

4–5 February 1962
All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader V. J. Sukselainen Kusti Kulo Väinö Tanner Party Agrarian SKDL SDP Last election 23.06%, 48 seats 23.16%, 50 seats 23.12%, 48 seats Seats won 53 47 38 Seat change 5 3 10 Popular vote 528,409 506,829 448,930 Percentage 22.95% 22.02% 19.50% Swing 0.11pp 1.14pp 3.62pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jussi Saukkonen Harras Kyttä Lars Erik Taxell Party National Coalition People's RKP Last election 15.28%, 29 seats 5.90%, 8 seats 6.50%, 13 seats Seats won 32 13 13 Seat change 3 5 Popular vote 346,638 146,005 140,689 Percentage 15.06% 6.34% 6.11% Swing 0.22pp 0.44pp 0.39pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Emil Skog Teuvo Aura Party TPSL Liberal League ÅS Last election 1.75%, 3 seats 0.33%, 0 seats 0.28%, 1 seat Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 100,396 12,000 7,261 Percentage 4.36% 0.52% 0.32% Swing 2.61pp 0.19pp 0.04pp
Prime Minister before election Martti Miettunen Agrarian Prime Minister after election Ahti Karjalainen Agrarian

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 4 and 5 February 1962.

Background

V. J. Sukselainen's second minority government had resigned in 1961, followed by Prime Minister Martti Miettunen's Agrarian first government, also a centrist minority government. In the spring of 1961, Olavi Honka, a former Chancellor of Justice (Attorney General), accepted the presidential candidacy of the Social Democratic Party, National Coalition Party, Swedish People's Party, People's Party, Smallholders' Party and the Liberal League. This Honka Alliance's goal was to defeat President Urho Kekkonen in the presidential elections of January and February 1962.

However, their plans were derailed in October 1961 when the Soviet Union sent a diplomatic note to Finland, asking it to participate in negotiations about the two countries' military co-operation. The Soviet government claimed that militarism and neo-Nazism were increasing in West Germany, and that Finland and the Soviet Union would have to negotiate on the basis of the Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance Treaty. During the Note Crisis, in late November Kekkonen dissolved Parliament and called early elections for February 1962. Shortly thereafter, Honka ended his presidential candidacy "for the fatherland's interest." Kekkonen travelled to Novosibirsk in the Soviet Union, where he negotiated briefly with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Again Khrushchev assured Kekkonen that all was well in the Finnish-Soviet relations, despite the efforts of "anti-Soviet" Finns to worsen them.

Campaign

The parliamentary elections were held in the first week of February 1962, between the Electoral College elections and the second phase of the presidential elections. The parties that still opposed Kekkonen's re-election had trouble campaigning in both the presidential and the parliamentary elections. After the parliamentary elections, Ahti Karjalainen of the Agrarian League formed a centre-right majority government that remained in office until December 1963. It was replaced by another caretaker government, led by Bureau Chief (a senior civil servant) Reino Lehto.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Agrarian League	528,409	22.95	53	+5
	Finnish People's Democratic League	506,829	22.02	47	–3
	Social Democratic Party	448,930	19.50	38	–10
	National Coalition Party	346,638	15.06	32	+3
	People's Party	146,005	6.34	13	+5
	Swedish People's Party	140,689	6.11	13	0
	Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders	100,396	4.36	2	–1
	Smallholders' Party	49,773	2.16	0	New
	Liberal League	12,000	0.52	1	+1
	Centre Party	8,686	0.38	0	New
	Åland Coalition	7,261	0.32	1	0
	Smallholders' Party Opposition	6,329	0.27	0	New
	Others	53	0.00	0	–
Total		2,301,998	100.00	200	0
Valid votes		2,301,998	99.65
Invalid/blank votes		8,092	0.35
Total votes		2,310,090	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,714,838	85.09
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004

By electoral district

Electoral district	Total seats	Seats won
		ML	SKDL	SDP	Kok	SK	RKP	TPSL	VL	ÅS
Åland	1									1
Central Finland	11	3	3	2	1	1		1
Häme	14	3	3	4	3	1
Helsinki	20		4	4	4	3	3	1	1
Kymi	15	4	2	5	4
Lapland	9	4	3		1	1
North Karelia	10	4	2	2	1	1
North Savo	12	4	4	1	2	1
Oulu	18	9	6	1	1	1
Pirkanmaa	12	1	4	3	3	1
Satakunta	14	4	4	3	3
South Savo	11	5	1	3	2
Uusima	17	2	4	5	2	1	3
Vaasa	20	7	3	2	3		5
Varsinais-Suomi	16	3	4	3	2	2	2
Total	200	53	47	38	32	13	13	2	1	1
Source: Statistics Finland