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: CS1 maint: date and year (link)Kalevi Sorsa | |
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![]() Sorsa in 1975. | |
34th Prime Minister of Finland [1] | |
In office 19 February 1982 –30 April 1987 | |
President | Mauno Koivisto |
Deputy | Ahti Pekkala Paavo Väyrynen |
Preceded by | Mauno Koivisto |
Succeeded by | Harri Holkeri |
In office 15 May 1977 –26 May 1979 | |
President | Urho Kekkonen |
Deputy | Johannes Virolainen |
Preceded by | Martti Miettunen |
Succeeded by | Mauno Koivisto |
In office 4 September 1972 –13 June 1975 | |
President | Urho Kekkonen |
Deputy | Ahti Karjalainen |
Preceded by | Rafael Paasio |
Succeeded by | Keijo Liinamaa |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 30 April 1987 –31 January 1989 | |
Prime Minister | Harri Holkeri |
Preceded by | Paavo Väyrynen |
Succeeded by | Pertti Paasio |
In office 30 November 1975 –29 September 1976 | |
Prime Minister | Martti Miettunen |
Preceded by | Olavi J. Mattila |
Succeeded by | Keijo Korhonen |
In office 23 February 1972 –4 September 1972 | |
Prime Minister | Rafael Paasio |
Preceded by | Olavi J. Mattila |
Succeeded by | Ahti Karjalainen |
Deputy Prime Minister of Finland | |
In office 30 April 1987 –31 January 1989 | |
Prime Minister | Harri Holkeri |
Preceded by | Paavo Väyrynen |
Succeeded by | Pertti Paasio |
In office 30 November 1975 –29 September 1976 | |
Prime Minister | Martti Miettunen |
Preceded by | Olavi J. Mattila |
Succeeded by | Ahti Karjalainen |
Personal details | |
Born | Taisto Kalevi Sorsa 21 December 1930 Keuruu,Finland |
Died | 16 January 2004 73) Helsinki,Finland | (aged
Political party | Social Democratic |
Spouse | Elli Irene Fate |
Taisto Kalevi Sorsa (21 December 1930 –16 January 2004) 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 Finnish prime minister. [2] He was also a long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.
Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was born on 21 December 1930 in Keuruu. Sorsa's surname literally means "anatid" in Finnish.
Sorsa attended school in Jyväskylä and Lappeenranta. At the age of 18,Sorsa's involvement with the SDP started in Lappeenranta. Prior to his political career,Sorsa worked in Paris for UNESCO from 1959 to 1965 and served as Secretary-General of the Finnish UNESCO board from 1965 to 1969. In the late 1960s,he also served as an official in the Ministry of Education.
In 1969,he was brought in from relative obscurity by Rafael Paasio,a former Prime Minister of Finland,to assume the influential post of party secretary,despite not having much experience of national politics.
A 2008 book by historian Jukka Seppinen claimed that Sorsa was at this date already receiving support from Soviet backers in the KGB. [3] However,other historians have disputed this,and while there was a list in a pro-Soviet newspaper of the candidates who should not be chosen as the party secretary,such as the right-wing social democrat Pekka J. Korvenheimo,there is no proof that the Soviets would have at this point particularly supported Sorsa. [4]
Sorsa was a leading political figure during the presidencies of Kekkonen and Koivisto. [5] He served as the chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1975 to 1987 and was Prime Minister of Finland in four centre-left coalitions for a total of ten years (1972–1975, [6] 1977–1979, [7] 1982–1983, [8] 1983–1987 [9] ). He remains Finland's longest-serving prime minister.
After his premiership he served as the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament from 1989 to 1991. During his career he also served twice as Deputy Prime Minister,from 1975 to 1976 and from 1987 to 1989. [10] From 1987 to 1996,Sorsa served on the governing board of the Bank of Finland. [11] [5] He was also known for his participation as the convener in the economic policy seminar at Hotel Korpilampi in Lahnus,Espoo,in September 1977. [12] [13]
Sorsa is regarded as one of Finland's most influential prime ministers,making major contributions to schools and health care,and increasing social security for families with children and pensioners. His governments strengthened the welfare state in Finland,by enacting many reforms—child care laws,longer maternity leave,the annual vacation benefit act,as well as the public health act.
In domestic politics,Sorsa had a particularly difficult relationship with Paavo Väyrynen,the strong-willed head of the Center Party. Another notable conflict was his rivalry with young rising politician Paavo Lipponen.
In June 1984,Sorsa gave a speech on "infocracy" (i.e. the power of the mass media) at the Social Democratic party convention. Infocracy challenges parliamentary democracy,is unintelligent and avoids discussing social problems,he said:it takes more interest in individual politicians than political issues and is never critical of its own actions. [14]
Three times Kalevi Sorsa served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Finland):in 1972;in 1975–1976;and from 1987 to 1989. [15]
Sorsa supported the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe after its creation in 1975,as well as projects to bridge the gap between the world's richest and poorest countries. In the 1970s,despite opposition from far-left parties,he championed a hard-won,free-trade agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC),which boosted ties between Finland and the countries of Western Europe.
Sorsa was also active in the international social democratic movement,and in the mid-1970s was elected vice-president of the Socialist International.
In the late 1970s and in the 1980s the Socialist International had extensive contacts and discussion with the two leading powers of the Cold War period,the United States and the Soviet Union,on issues concerning East–West relations,arms control and Afghanistan. [16] The Socialist International supported détente and disarmament agreements,such as SALT II,START and INF. They had several meetings and discussion in Washington,D.C.,with President Jimmy Carter and Vice-President George Bush and with CPSU Secretaries General Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow. Sorsa led the Socialist International's delegations to these discussions. [17]
In 1993,Sorsa sought to become the Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate,but in the primary elections,which were exceptionally and controversially open to all Finns regardless of their party membership,he lost to his challenger Martti Ahtisaari,the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1977 to 1981,who later also won the main presidential elections and went on to become the Finnish President. Although the social democratic primaries of 1993 have generally been seen as a disaster,as there was nobody to register the voters and people who were not even members of the party could vote multiple times at different voting posts,there was little criticism of the primary election arrangements after Ahtisaari had won. However,it is also likely that he would have won regardless of the way that the primaries were held. [4] Ahtisaari was supported by a small but significant group of Finnish politicians who had long been hostile to Kalevi:Erkki Tuomioja,Lasse Lehtinen and Matti Ahde.
Kalevi Sorsa continued to participate in discussions of social policy until the end of his life,his last column being published posthumously.
He died of cancer on 16 January 2004 at his home in Helsinki at the age of 73. [5] He was survived by his wife;the couple had no children. [5]
The Kalevi Sorsa Foundation [18] is a social democratic think tank,established in 2005 and named in his honour.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland,and the first and to date only woman to hold the position,from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK),and as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary (1974–1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977–1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990,as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991,and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari was a Finnish politician,the tenth president of Finland,from 1994 to 2000,a Nobel Peace Prize laureate,and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.
Mauno Henrik Koivisto was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice,from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 1982. He was also the first member of the Social Democratic Party to be elected as President of Finland.
Johannes Virolainen was a Finnish politician and who served as 30th Prime Minister of Finland,helped inhabitants of Karelia,opposed the use of alcohol and created Mandatory Swedish in Finnish basic schools.
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares was a Portuguese politician,who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985,and subsequently as the 17th president of Portugal from 1986 to 1996. He was the first secretary-general of the Socialist Party,from its foundation in 1973 to 1986. A major political figure in Portugal,he is considered the father of Portuguese democracy.
Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen was a Finnish economist and 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,and was at one point considered to be Kekkonen's likely successor until alcoholism affected his later career.
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 21 and 22 September 1975.
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 20 and 21 March 1983. The elections were widely regarded as a "protest election" because,contrary to expectations,the major parties with the exception of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) performed poorly;the Liberal People's Party (LKP) lost all its seats in the Eduskunta,while the Finnish Rural Party (SMP) more than doubled its seat tally and the Greens won seats for the first time. The SMP's success was credited,at least in part,to voter distaste for some mainstream parties because of political scandals;no significant policy differences emerged in the election campaign. The SDP won 57 seats,the best performance by a party since World War II.
Matti Allan Ahde was a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party.
Pertti Kullervo Paasio was a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party. He was born in Helsinki.
Keijo Tero Korhonen was a Finnish politician,ambassador,and professor. During his political career,he served as the Finnish foreign minister and Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations. He was an unsuccessful candidate for President of Finland in 1994. He was also a professor at the University of Helsinki and an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona.
Matti Kalevi Louekoski is a Finnish politician and a lawyer by profession. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) and a former long-term member of the governing board of the Bank of Finland.
The third cabinet of Kalevi Sorsa was the 62nd government of Finland. The majority government lasted from 19 February 1982 to 6 May 1983. The cabinet's prime minister was Kalevi Sorsa. The Finnish People's Democratic League disapproved of the government's decision to raise the country's defence budget,which led to a governmental crisis,which culminated in the FPDL being forced to resign from the government by the prime minister on 31 December 1982. As a result of the change,the Liberal People's Party joined the coalition and,together with the rest of the previous government,formed the Sorsa IIIb Cabinet.
Sorsa's fourth cabinet was the 63rd government of Finland,which existed for 1 456 days,from 6 May 1983 to 30 April 1987. The government’s Prime Minister was Kalevi Sorsa. It was a majority government based on the ”red-soil government”model,as it was a coalition formed by the Social Democrats,the Centre Party,the Swedish People’s Party,and the Rural Party.
Pentti Väänänen was a Finnish politician and Master of Laws from the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP).
Pekka Juhani Korvenheimo was a Finnish diplomat,a master of political science.
Matti Luttinen was a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party.
Vappu Taipale is a Finnish retired politician and physician.
Pirjo Anneli Ala-Kapee-Hakulinen is a Finnish politician who was the minister of education in the fourth cabinet of prime minister Kalevi Sorsa from 1986 to 1987. A member of the Social Democratic Party,she was also a member of the Finnish Parliament from 1979 to 1989.
Eero Rantala was a Finnish politician who held several cabinet posts in late 1970s. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.