List of political parties in Finland

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This article lists political parties in Finland. Finland has a strong multi-party system with coalition governments formed usually by the largest party. Parties who are not in government are called the opposition.

The party system has been rather stable since the foundation of the parliament (1907) and independence (1917), as parties founded then or their breakoff factions have consistently held the overwhelming majority in the parliament. The establishment of the Green League is the exception.

Registered political parties

Under Finnish law, a political association that fulfils certain conditions may become an officially registered party. A registered party may nominate candidates in all national and local elections, and a party that is represented in parliament is entitled to a government subsidy relative to its number of seats. To qualify as a registered party, an association must have bylaws guaranteeing democratic internal organization and must be able to present 5,000 signatures from supporters who are eligible to vote. A party that fails to win a single seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections is stricken from the register but may apply again. (In contrast, a voluntary association has a requirement of 20,000 supporters and is not eligible for party subsidy.)

Name
in English		 Name
in Finnish		 Name
in Swedish		 Abbr.[1] Leader MPs[2] Founded
Parliamentary parties
Centre Party Suomen Keskusta Centern i Finland Kesk. Juha Sipilä 49 1906
Finns Party Perussuomalaiset Sannfinländarna PS Timo Soini 38 19951
National Coalition Party Kansallinen Kokoomus Samlingspartiet Kok. Alexander Stubb 37 1918
Social Democratic Party of Finland Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti SDP Antti Rinne 34 1899
Green League Vihreä liitto Gröna förbundet Vihr. Ville Niinistö 15 1987
Left Alliance Vasemmistoliitto Vänsterförbundet Vas. Paavo Arhinmäki 12 19904
Swedish People's Party of Finland Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue Svenska folkpartiet i Finland RKP Carl Haglund 9 + 12 19063
Christian Democrats of Finland Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit Kristdemokraterna i Finland KD Sari Essayah 5 1958
Non parliament registered parties
Communist Party of Finland Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue Finlands Kommunistiska Parti rp. SKP Juha-Pekka Väisänen – 1994 (1985)5
Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism Kommunistinen Työväenpuolue – Rauhan ja Sosialismin puolesta Kommunistiska Arbetarpartiet – För Fred och Socialism KTP Hannu Harju – 1988
Whisky Party Viskipuolue Whiskypartiet ViPu Juhani Kähärä – 2016
1 Predecessor: Rural Party of Finland founded 1959 by Veikko Vennamo.
2 The Member of Parliament from the region of Åland is usually counted towards the Swedish member count regardless of Åland party affiliation.
3 The Swedish Party (1870–1906), considered a predecessor, was in the Diet of Finland.
4 Predecessor: Finnish People's Democratic League (1944) and Finnish Women's Democratic League.
5 A breakoff faction of the old Communist Party of Finland, originally broken off in mid-1980s.

Other national parties

Historical political parties

Parties in parliament

Parties outside parliament

Election campaign stations for the Pirate Party and Independence Party, Narinkka, Helsinki.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus/Raija Moilanen. Puolueiden nimilyhenteet. http://www.kotus.fi/index.phtml?s=835
  2. ↑ Finnish Ministry of Justice: http://www.vaalit.fi/

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.