Finnish parliamentary election, 1972

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Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 2 and 3 January 1972. [1]

Finland Republic in Northern Europe

Finland, officially the Republic of Finland is a country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, and Russia to the east. Finland is a Nordic country and is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia. The capital and largest city is Helsinki. Other major cities are Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Oulu and Turku.

Contents

Background

Prime Minister Ahti Karjalainen's centre-left coalition government lost the Finnish People's Democratic League in March 1971 as they opposed the removal of government subsidies from certain foods whose prices rose, and was forced to resign in October 1971, due to the disagreements between the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party over the amount of agricultural subsidies. According to some historians, politicians and journalists, such as Allan Tiitta, Seppo Zetterberg, Johannes Virolainen, Veikko Vennamo and Pekka Hyvärinen, an underlying reason for these early parliamentary elections was President Urho Kekkonen's desire to continue in office without regular presidential elections which had been scheduled for 1974. Re-election as President through exceptional means would require a five-sixths majority in Parliament and, according to the above analysts, Kekkonen hoped that such early elections would reduce the number of Finnish Rural Party MPs, and would thus make the exceptional electoral law's passage in Parliament easier.

Ahti Karjalainen Finnish politician

Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Agrarian League and served two terms as Prime Minister of Finland. He is, however, better known for his period as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Karjalainen is considered one of the most influential figures in post-war Finnish politics. Like President Urho Kekkonen, Karjalainen attached great importance to Finland's relationship with the Soviet Union.

Finnish Peoples Democratic League political party

Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due to the demands of the Soviet Union, and lasted until 1990, when it merged into the newly formed Left Alliance. At its time, SKDL was one of the largest leftist parties in capitalist Europe, with its main member party, the Communist Party of Finland, being one of the largest communist parties west of the Iron Curtain. The SKDL enjoyed its greatest electoral success in the 1958 parliamentary election, when it gained a support of approximately 23 per cent and a representation of 50 MPs of 200 total, making it the largest party in the Eduskunta.

Social Democratic Party of Finland registered political party in Finland

The Social Democratic Party of Finland, shortened to the Social Democrats, is a social-democratic political party in Finland. The party holds 35 seats in Finland's parliament. The party has set many fundamental policies of Finnish society during its representation in the Finnish Government. Founded in 1899, the SDP is Finland's oldest active political party. The SDP has a close relationship with Finland's largest trade union, SAK, and is a member of the Socialist International, the Party of European Socialists, and SAMAK.

Kekkonen remembered bitterly the loud and constant criticism of himself and of his foreign policy that Rural Party leader Veikko Vennamo had practised during the 1968 presidential election campaign, and he was determined not to submit himself to such a vicious election campaign this time. Finland was also negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Economic Community, and most Finnish politicians believed that Finland could get a favourable free trade agreement with President Kekkonen's help.

Veikko Vennamo Finnish politician

Veikko Emil Aleksander Vennamo was a Finnish politician. In 1959, he founded the Finnish Rural Party, which was succeeded by the True Finns in 1995. He had originally been the leader of a faction of the Agrarian League. When his opponent, Urho Kekkonen, was elected president of Finland, Vennamo broke off his Agrarian League affiliation. Vennamo was a member of Parliament in 1945–1962 and 1966–1987. He was also the director of the Agricultural ministry's Resettlement office in 1944–1959 and was responsible for the resettlement of the farmers evacuated from the ceded Karelia. Later he was a department director at the Board of Customs.

European Economic Community international organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957

The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation which aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states. It was created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957. Upon the formation of the European Union (EU) in 1993, the EEC was incorporated and renamed as the European Community (EC). In 2009 the EC's institutions were absorbed into the EU's wider framework and the community ceased to exist.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 664,72425.855+3
National Coalition Party 453,43417.634–3
Finnish People's Democratic League 438,75717.037+1
Centre Party 423,03916.435–1
Finnish Rural Party 236,2069.2180
Liberal People's Party 132,9555.27–1
Swedish People's Party 130,4075.19–2
Finnish Christian League 65,2282.54+3
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders 25,5271.000
Åland Coalition 7,6720.310
Invalid/blank votes9,111–––
Total2,587,0601002000
Registered voters/turnout3,178,01181.4––
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004 [2]
Popular vote
SDP
 
25.78%
KOK
 
17.59%
SKDL
 
17.02%
KESK
 
16.41%
SMP
 
9.16%
LKP
 
5.16%
RKP
 
5.06%
SKL
 
2.53%
TPSL
 
0.99%
Others
 
0.30%
Parliament seats
SDP
 
27.50%
SKDL
 
18.50%
KESK
 
17.50%
KOK
 
17.00%
SMP
 
9.00%
RKP
 
4.50%
LKP
 
3.50%
SKL
 
2.00%
Others
 
0.50%

Aftermath

To most other parties' surprise, the Rural Party retained their 18 MPs. Government formation was difficult due to partisan bickering and the elections' rather inconclusive results. Rafael Paasio of the Social Democrats formed a minority government of his own party in February 1972, replacing the Helsinki city manager Teuvo Aura's liberal caretaker government. Finally, after tough negotiations, Social Democrat Kalevi Sorsa managed to form a new centre-left majority government that included the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Swedish People's Party and the Liberal People's Party in September 1972.

Rafael Paasio Finnish politician

Kustaa Rafael Paasio was a prominent Finnish politician and editor from Social Democratic Party. He served as Prime Minister of Finland twice.

Teuvo Aura Finnish politician and jurist

Teuvo Ensio Aura was a Finnish politician of the Liberal People's Party. He served as Mayor of Helsinki and interim Prime Minister of Finland twice, in 1970 and 1971–72.

Kalevi Sorsa Prime Minister of Finland

Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland three times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987. At the time of his death he still held the record for most days of incumbency as prime minister. He was also a long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

President Kekkonen's goal of re-election by Parliament was achieved in January 1973. It was helped by the Rural Party splitting as thirteen of their MPs left to form the Finnish People's Unity Party, and by most National Coalition MPs supporting his re-election. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Finnish People's Unity Party was a split from the Rural Party of Finland. The party was formed as some of the members of the parliamentary group of the Rural Party of Finland wanted to support the idea of re-electing the president of Finland Urho Kekkonen without presidential elections for the years 1974-1978. This was impossible for the chairman Veikko Vennamo due to the longstanding disputes between Vennamo and the Centre Party.

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Urho Kekkonen eighth President of Finland

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving President of Finland (1956–82). He ruled over Finland for nearly 26 years, and held a questionably large amount of power; he is often classified as an autocrat. Regardless, he remains a popular, respected and recognizable figure. Previously, he had served as Prime Minister of Finland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament (1948–50) and Minister of Justice. As president, Kekkonen continued the "active neutrality" policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine that came to be known as the "Paasikivi–Kekkonen line", under which Finland retained its independence while maintaining good relations and extensive trade with members of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact. He hosted the European Conference on Security and Co-operation in Helsinki in 1975 and was considered a potential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize that year.

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Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1978, the first since 1968 after Urho Kekkonen's term was extended by four years by Parliament. The public elected presidential electors to an electoral college on 15 and 16 January. They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won on the first ballot. The turnout for the popular vote was 64.3. Kekkonen had in the spring of 1975 agreed to become the Social Democratic presidential candidate, and after that all the major Finnish political parties chose him as their candidate. Kekkonen's opponents, such as the Christian League's presidential candidate Raino Westerholm, claimed that Kekkonen's long presidency weakened the Finnish democracy. Over one-third of the Finnish voters abstained from voting, partly as a protest against Kekkonen's expected landslide victory.

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ 595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 [ permanent dead link ] (Tilastokeskus 2004)
  3. ↑ Seppo Zetterberg et al (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History, WSOY
  4. ↑ Allan Tiitta & Seppo Zetterberg (1992) Finland Through the Ages, Reader's Digest
  5. ↑ Johannes Virolainen (1991) The Last Electoral Term, Otava
  6. ↑ Veikko Vennamo (1989) As a Prisoner of the Kekkonen Dictatorship, Gummerus
  7. ↑ Pekka Hyvärinen (2000) Finland's Man: Urho Kekkonen's Life, WSOY
  8. ↑ Aarno Laitinen et al (1981) Tamminiemi's Inheritance Dividers, Lehtimiehet
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