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Finland's election
Truly amazing
Apr 18th 2011, 13:12 by C.M. | COPENHAGEN
THE cosy consensus of Finnish parliamentary politics was shattered yesterday, when the True Finns, a populist Eurosceptic party, emerged from near-obscurity to take third place in a closely run general election. The result will be carefully noted by European leaders as efforts continue to restore confidence in the euro.
The leader of the True Finns, Timo Soini (pictured), has pledged to veto future aid packages for struggling euro-zone countries, such as Portugal. (In an unfortunate irony of timing, Portugal's bail-out talks with European and IMF officials began earlier today.) But although the election catapulted the True Finns from just five seats to 39 in the 200-member parliament, their participation in the next government remains uncertain.
The National Coalition Party (NCP), a pro-EU member of the outgoing coalition, lost six seats but still emerged as the largest party. It will now lead negotiations on the composition of the new government. These talks will be fraught with difficulty. “Coalition talks are always a bit complicated in Finland, and this time it will be more difficult than usual,” says Pasi Saukkonen, a political scientist at Helsinki University.
Mari Kiviniemi, the prime minister, said her Centre Party would return to opposition after it lost 16 seats. This means that the NCP will likely seek to form a government with the opposition Social Democrats (SDP), which came second, with 42 seats. The pair would need to recruit at least one other party to gain it a majority. (Minority governments, although common in other Nordic countries, are frowned on in Finland and would only be considered as a last resort.)
That leaves the True Finns well positioned to lobby for cabinet seats. The problem is that Jyrki Katainen, leader of the NCP and probably the next prime minister, is diametrically at odds with the True Finns’ anti-EU line. Patching together an NCP-SDP-True Finn coalition might therefore prove difficult. The NCP and SDP could instead secure a minority by relying on two or more smaller parties.
Either way, the negotiations are likely to take a long time. The True Finns’ chances probably rest on the degree to which Mr Soini is prepared to compromise his anti-EU position. Opposition to euro-zone bail-outs was the central plank of his electoral campaign, but he is a pragmatic politician who will be eager to translate his electoral gains into power. He will also have an eye on repeating his party’s performance in presidential and local elections due next year.
Perhaps most significantly for Finland's euro-zone partners, whether or not Mr Soini makes it into government his brand of Euroscepticism will leave an imprint on whatever combination of parties makes it into power. “Finland had the image of being a strongly pro-European party, and it will now be regarded rather differently,” says Mr Saukkonen.
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Sorry for the incomplete boxscore, but I can only go
on the information presented.
200 seat Parliment
NCP ?? seats (but greater than 42)
SDP 42 seats
TFinns 39 seats
other 1 ?? seats
other 2 ?? seats
other 3 ?? seats
(the max seat of the combined total of others is less than 76)
Regards
National Coalition Party (KOK) 44 seats (change: -6 seats)
A right-leaning party
Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) 42 seats (-3)
A left-leaning party
True Finns (PS) 39 seats (+34)
A nationalistic, left-leaning party
Centre Party (KESK) 35 seats (-16)
A rural party, previous prime ministerial party, will be in the opposition by their own declaration
Left Alliance (VAS) 14 seats (-3)
A left-wing party
Green League (VIHR) 10 seats (-5)
An environmentalist party, will be in the opposition by their own declaration
Swedish People's Party of Finland (RKP) 9 seats (0)
A party for Swedish speaking minority
Christian Democrats (KD) 6 steats (-1)
A party for religious people
There is also a seat for Elisabeth Nauclér, the representative for Åland. She is associated with RKP as people not able to speak Swedish are not allowed to own property in Åland.
To see parties left-right / liberal-conservative axes see: http://www.loitto.com/tilastot/hsvaalikone11/kartta/ In the image left is left, right is right, up is liberal, down in conservative.
"Finland had the image of being a strongly pro-European party, and it will now be regarded rather differently."
Not so. People mix up pro-European and pro-EU. The EU is a corrupt, anti-democratic, pampered institution that is consistently mismanaging Europe. Any pro-European has to be anti-EU.
We want an EU that represents and executes the will of the majority, not that of a tiny media and poltical "elite". Among others this means that selfish and mismanaged countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal adhere to EU treaties and take responsibility for their past misdemeanours. It also means that the EU protects the integrity of its borders, rather than provide safe passage to illegal border crossers. And so on.
The only "amazing" thing is that people as educated and sophisticated as the Finns have been tolerant for so long to the abuse by the anti-European EU.
Make Love not War - Selfish countries?
So Ireland is a selfish country because of the actions of a few corrupt bankers, because of whom, we are, in Ireland, paying a very heavy price???
Should we call all Finns masked mass murderers because of the trouble they have there with people shooting up schools??
The selfish party in this was the ECB who force fed Irelands incompetant banks cheep loans... but you will all soon learn that when the truth comes out in the wash and all of this comes to a head.
"True Finns (PS) 39 seats (+34)
A nationalistic, left-leaning party"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Finns
according to wikipedia:
Progressive taxation and the welfare state
Opposition to the European Union and to admission to NATO
Against EU bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal
Finland should be prepared for falling of EMU and EU
Abolition of mandatory Swedish on all levels of education
State support for rural regions
Reductions in foreign aid
Strict limits on asylum-seekers
Increased state investment in infrastructure and industry
Pro-industry environmental policy
Tougher punishment for crime
Support to those arts promoting Finnish identity
---
I'd call them right-wing if not extreme-right wing
@90s
Sure, the Irish are innocent. Wasnt their fault that every dead beat laborer started speculating with properties worth a large multiple of their earnings. Wasnt their fault that they inflated their wages. Wasnt their fault, coz the bad, bad ECB wrote to every single person in Ireland, begging them to take a loan and bubble up property prices.
Equally, the Greeks are also innocent, and certainly also the Portugese. All hard working folk, ripped off by the ECB, the CIA, the IMF, and the free masons.
C'mon, grow up. The Irish bankrupted Ireland - all by themselves.
@ 90 and counting
Low blow...
Well, makelove ect ect.. you will soon find out when your banks come a knockin for the 100BN they stupidly lent our banks and when they find out there's nothing left, who then will have bankrupted whom?
Best of luck with those education cuts by the way (assuming you are from Engerland).
Make Love not War: "Equally, the Greeks are also innocent, and certainly also the Portugese. All hard working folk, ripped off by the ECB, the CIA, the IMF, and the free masons."
"Among others this means that selfish and mismanaged countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal adhere to EU treaties and take responsibility for their past misdemeanours. "
Regarding Portugal, provide proof of what you are saying or quit your uneducated and childish babbling.
Turrican the English (and he will most probably deny hes English) dont need evidence or rational thought.
He will console himself with his cheap can of larger and a copy of the Daily Express and tell himself how everyone is out there to get Engerland and how Engerland is the only bastion of blah blah blah.
Its why they are loved the world over.
@turri
Why, are you the public prosecutor? And how dare you bother others with personal insults? Is that how Portugese deal with each other? I hope not. Enough that they are economically incompetent, no need to also be rude, especially when dependent on the help of others.
The rise of extremism and populism is not unheard of in times of financial crises, as History has shown us, time and time again.
The current situation in Finland should set the example for the rest of Europe, and its citizens should be made aware of the danger of rising populist movements. Europe always failed when such movements were popular.
This is quite a blow to Finland's image as one of the most progressive and liberal European countries. I don't see how anyone can support this party. There's far more to consider than simply their position on EU membership. This party is populist, nationalist and xenophobic with some ideas which echo Nazism;
"They believe that a low birth rate is not solved by immigration, as that results in problems and foreigners do not fit into Finnish culture. Instead, young women should study less and spend more time giving birth to pure Finnish children." [Source: BBC]
Finland, of course, is not unique its hard swing to the right as witnessed in several recent European national elections.
Make Love not War,
I think if it is in the will of the Finns not to help out Portugal than this decision should be respected.
Although I believe you should be careful when making certain generalisations especially when it is apparent that you may not be fully aware of what is the current situation in Portugal or the rest of Europe for that matter.
@pedro
The current situation in Portugal is that Portugal is broke.
@Van
You are quite optimistic believing aunty BBC every politically correct defamation it releases.
Make love not war,
Just in case you haven't noticed, the entire World is broke.
But as it seems that you are only here to provoke people, I will refrain from debate.
with you that is. I don't mind debating this situation with other, more serious posters. I actually agree with Vanbrugh.
90 and counting (Apr 18th 2011 3:11 GMT) wrote:
"Jeez, yer man in the photo wouldn't win many prizes though..
Not the prettiest in the Artic Circle, is he?"
Actually, he is...
Congratulations to the True Finns.