Finnish parliamentary election, 2019

Last updated
Finnish parliamentary election, 2019
Flag of Finland.svg
  2015 14 April 2019

All 200 seats to the Parliament
101 seats needed for a majority

  Juha Sipila 18-4-2015.JPG Jussi Halla-aho 2014.JPG EPP Summit, Brussels, June 2016 (27923961326) (cropped).jpg
Leader Juha Sipilä Jussi Halla-aho Petteri Orpo [1]
Party Centre Finns National Coalition
Leader since9 June 201210 June 201711 June 2016
Last election49 seats, 21.1%38 seats, 17.7%37 seats, 18.2%
Current seats481738

  Antti Rinne.jpg Pekka Haavisto 2017 04.jpg Li Andersson cropped.jpg
Leader Antti Rinne Pekka Haavisto Li Andersson [2]
Party Social Democratic Green League Left Alliance
Leader since9 May 20143 November 20186 June 2016
Last election34 seats, 16.5%15 seats, 8.5%12 seats, 7.1%
Current seats351512

  Anna-Maja Henriksson.jpg Sari Essayah (cropped).jpg Sampoterhoeurovaalivaittely2014sanomataloDSCN3350.JPG
Leader Anna-Maja Henriksson [3] Sari Essayah [4] Sampo Terho
Party Swedish People's Christian Democrat Blue Reform
Leader since12 June 201629 August 201516 December 2017
Last election9 seats, 4.9%5 seats, 3.5%Did not contest
Current seats9518

Incumbent Prime Minister

Juha Sipilä
Centre


The 2019 Finnish parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on 14 April 2019. [5]

Contents

The working committee, consisting of the party secretaries of all parliamentary parties, suggested in May 2017 that the parliamentary election should be organized simultaneously with the European Parliament election. [6] However, the suggestion has not yet seen enough parliamentary support to pass and is currently under consideration of the Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen. [7]

Antti Häkkänen Finnish politician

Antti Edvard Häkkänen is a Finnish politician, representing the National Coalition Party. He has served as a Member of Parliament since 22 April 2015. On 5 May 2017, Häkkänen started as the Minister of Justice in Sipilä Cabinet.

Background

The incumbent government was formed by a three party center-right coalition, composed of the Centre Party, Finns Party and National Coalition Party. [8] On 28 May 2015, the parliament elected Juha Sipilä as prime minister by a vote of 128–62. [9]

Centre Party (Finland) registered political party in Finland

The Centre Party of Finland is a centrist, liberal, agrarian political party in Finland.

Finns Party right-wing populist party in Finland

The Finns Party, formerly known in English as the True Finns, is a Finnish conservative political party, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.

National Coalition Party centre-right political party in Finland

The National Coalition Party is a centre-right political party in Finland considered to be liberal, conservative, and liberal-conservative. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the three largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. The current party chair is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring" and supports multiculturalism and gay rights. It is pro-NATO and pro-European as well as a member of the European People's Party (EPP).

On 10 June 2017, the Finns Party elected Jussi Halla-aho as the new leader of the party, after the long-time leader Timo Soini had decided to step down. Following the talks between the three coalition leaders, Sipilä and Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo announced that they would no longer cooperate in a coalition government with the Finns Party. The collapse of government was averted on 13 June when twenty MPs defected from the Finns Party's parliamentary group, forming what would eventually become the Blue Reform party. One MPa later returned to the Finns and Kaj Turunen defected to National Coalition Party, leaving the Blue Reform with 18 and Finns with 17 MPs. Sipilä's government retained a majority in the Parliament as the Blue Reform continued as a member of the coalition and the Finns Party was moved to the opposition. [10]

Jussi Halla-aho Finnish Slavic linguist, blogger and a politician

Jussi Kristian Halla-aho is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Finland. He is the leader of the Finns Party, part of the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Timo Soini Finnish politician

Timo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2017 and has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2015.

Electoral system

Electoral districts in the 2015 election Suomen vaalipiirit 2013.png
Electoral districts in the 2015 election

The 200 members of the Eduskunta are elected using proportional representation in 13 multi-member constituencies, with seats allocated according to the d'Hondt method. The number of elected representatives is proportional to the population in the district six months prior to the elections. Åland has single member electoral district and its own party system. [11]

Parliament of Finland legislature of Finland

The Parliament of Finland is the unicameral supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The Parliament consists of 200 members, 199 of whom are elected every four years from 13 multi-member districts electing 7-22 MPs using the proportional d'Hondt method. In addition, there is one member from Åland.

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

The D'Hondt method or the Jefferson method is a highest averages method for allocating seats, and is thus a type of party-list proportional representation. The method described is named in the United States after Thomas Jefferson, who introduced the method for proportional allocation of seats in the United States House of Representatives in 1791, and in Europe after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt, who described it in 1878 for proportional allocation of parliamentary seats to the parties. There are two forms: closed list and an open list.

Electoral districtSeats
01 Helsinki 22
02 Uusimaa 36
03 Finland Proper 17
04 Satakunta 8
05 Åland 1
06 Tavastia 14
07 Pirkanmaa 19
08 South-East Finland 17
09 Savonia-Karelia 15
10 Vaasa 16
11 Central Finland 10
12 Oulu 18
13 Lapland 7

Opinion polls

Finnish Opinion Polling, 30 Day Moving Average, 2015-2019.png

Related Research Articles

The Green League, shortened to the Greens, is a green political party in Finland. The Green League is among the largest political parties in Finland. The Greens hold fifteen seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament. The party is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party, while its MEP, Heidi Hautala, sits with The Greens–European Free Alliance in the European Parliament. Originally split on whether Finland should join the European Union, the Green League is pro-European and was the first Finnish party in favor of the federalisation of the European Union.

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Alexander Stubb Finnish politician

Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb is a Finnish politician who served as the Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 as a member of the National Coalition Party. In 2008, Stubb was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs following a scandal surrounding his predecessor, Ilkka Kanerva. In 2011 Stubb stood for election to the Finnish Parliament for the first time and was elected MP with the second highest vote count in the election, which led to Stubb becoming the Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet.

Paavo Väyrynen Finnish politician

Paavo Matti Väyrynen is a Finnish veteran politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Seven Star Movement and formerly the Citizen's Party and Centre Party. Väyrynen has been a member of the Finnish Parliament previously from 1970 to 1995 and again from 2007 to 2011 and has held many ministerial portfolios. He has also been a Member of the European Parliament from 1995 to 2007, and again from 2014 to 2018.

Carl Haglund Finnish politician

Carl Christoffer ”Calle” Haglund is a Finnish politician, former chairman of the Swedish People's Party and the former Minister of Defence. He was member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2012. Haglund was elected chairman of his party in June 2012.

Sampo Terho Finnish politician

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Juha Sipilä 44th Prime Minister of Finland

Juha Petri Sipilä is a Finnish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Finland since 2015. A relative newcomer to politics, he has a successful background in business. He has been the leader of the Centre Party since 9 June 2012. After leading the Centre party to victory in the 2015 general election, Sipilä formed a centre-right coalition and was appointed Prime Minister by the Finnish Parliament on 29 May 2015. On 8 March 2019, Sipilä stated his intention to resign as Prime Minister, citing difficulties in reforming Finland's health care system. President Sauli Niinistö has asked him to continue with a caretaker government until a parliamentary election can be held on April 14.

2015 Finnish parliamentary election Finnish parliamentaly election held in 2015

The 2015 Finnish parliamentary election was held on 19 April 2015, with advance voting from 8 to 14 April. The 200 members of eduskunta were elected with the proportional D'Hondt method.

Petteri Orpo Finnish politician

Antti Petteri Orpo is a Finnish politician, chair of the National Coalition Party and the incumbent Minister of Finance. Previously he served as the Minister for Agriculture and Forestry 2014–2015 and Minister of Interior 2015–2016.

Sipilä Cabinet 74th cabinet of Finland

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2018 Finnish presidential election presidential election in Finland

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2016 National Coalition Party leadership election

The National Coalition Party leadership election, 2016 was held in Lappeenranta, Finland on June 11, 2016 to elect the chair of the National Coalition Party. In the election, Alexander Stubb, the incumbent party chair and Minister of Finance, was defeated by Petteri Orpo, the Minister of the Interior. Elina Lepomäki, a Member of the Parliament, finished third. After the leadership election, Orpo took Stubb's post as the Minister of Finance.

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2017 Finnish government crisis

The 2017 Finnish government crisis followed the Finns Party leadership election held on 10 June 2017. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo announced on 12 June that they would no longer cooperate in a coalition government with the Finns Party after Jussi Halla-aho was elected party chairman. The crisis resolved on 13 June when twenty MPs defected from the Finns Party's parliamentary group, forming what would eventually become the Blue Reform party. Sipilä's government retained a majority in Finland's parliament as the Blue Reform continued as a member of the coalition.

Blue Reform Finnish political party

Blue Reform is a Finnish conservative political party.

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References

  1. "Nyt se ratkesi – Stubb sivuun, Petteri Orpo on kokoomuksen uusi puheenjohtaja". Ilta-sanomat. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  2. "Li Andersson kruunattiin virallisesti puheenjohtajaksi". Iltalehti. 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  3. "Anna-Maja Henriksson valittiin Rkp:n puheenjohtajaksi – "Me teimme sen. Me rikoimme lasikaton!"". Helsingin sanomat. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. "Kristillisdemokraattien uusi puheenjohtaja on Sari Essayah – haluaa malliksi Saksan sisarpuolue CDU:n". Helsingin Sanomat. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  5. Upcoming Elections 2015-2030, Vaalit.fi, accessed 3 June 2015.
  6. "Vuoden 2019 vaalien yhdistävistä selvittävän työryhmän raportti" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  7. "Vaalien yhdistämisestä ei löytynyt sopua: Kansalaisia uhkaa vaaliähky". Yle. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. Sipilä opts for right-leaning government, YLE News 7 May 2015, accessed 3 June 2015.
  9. "Juha Sipilä valittiin äänin 128-62 pääministeriksi". Verkkouutiset. 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  10. "Hallituskriisi raukesi perussuomalaisten jakautumiseen: monivaiheinen politiikan superpäivä kerrattuna". Yle News. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. Electoral Districts, Vaalit.fi, accessed 3 June 2015.