Small Peasants' Party of Finland
Small Peasants' Party of Finland Suomen Pientalonpoikien Puolue | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959, 1966- The Rural Party of Finland |
| Dissolved |
1995 (de facto) 2003 (de jure) |
| Headquarters | Helsinki |
| Ideology | Nordic agrarianism |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | None |
Small Peasants' Party of Finland was established in 1959. The founders of the party were members of the Agrarian League (1906-). The strong man of the party was Veikko Vennamo, who was the chief of the department of housing and land reform related to the Carelian refugees after the Continuation war. Vennamos skisma with his own party started when V. J. Sukselainen was elected the chairman of the Agrarian League.
Ideologically the split began in December, 1957, when Mr. Paavo Ojalehto from Northern Finland wrote a letter to the board of the members of the Agrarian League claiming, that the party secretary of the Agrarian League, Mr. Arvo Korsimo did not meet the traditional moral values and did not appreciate chastity. The only member supporting Ojalehto's claim was Veikko Vennamo. Vennamo was not allowed to take part in party the parliamentary group of the Agragian League in the parliament of Finland for a set period of time in 1958. Suomen Pientalonpoikien puolue was registered in the end of 1958. The only MP of the party was Veikko Vennamo.[1]
As Johannes Virolainen succeeded Vieno Johannes Sukselainen as the chairman of the Agrarian League and had the name of the Agrarian League changed to Center Party (Keskustapuolue) in 1965 to meet better the needs of the sons and daughters of the farmers, who sought work in the cities, towns and boroughs as an alternative to the emigration to Sweden. The Small Peasants Party of Finland emphasized its position of defending the small peasants agriculture on its behalf.
The in 1966 the party was renamed The Rural Party of Finland, which declared bankruptcy in 2003. The four supporters of the Rural Party of Finland established the True Finns, three of them were Timo Soini and Raimo Vistbacka. The decision of establishing the True Finns was made in sauna in the village of Kalmari[2] in the town of Saarijärvi.
Election results
Parliamentary elections
| Year | MPs | Votes | Share of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 0 | 49,773 | 2.2% |
Local council (municipal) elections
| Year | Councillors | Votes | Share of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 359 | 52,524 | 2.7% |
| 1964 | 30,683 | 1.4% |