Аbstract
The peculiar
conditions of the party system have enabled the Finnish Centre Party, unlike
its better‐known counterparts in Sweden and Norway, to occupy a position at the centre
of the political spectrum. Indeed, in holding the balance of power between left
and right, the Centre Party has functioned as a ‘hinge group’, at once
indispensable to the achievement of a majority coalition and decisive in
determining its party composition. This article presents a profile of the
Centre Party and argues that whilst Finland is clearly an extreme multiparty
system in Sartori's terms, the Centre has been far from a negative and
immobilistic agency. Rather, it has been a reformist party with a distinctive
social blueprint.
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Three weeks ago Maud Olofsson announced that she will resign
after ten years as the leader of the Centre Party (green liberal). But during
the speech, she showed that she will be very difficult to replace. This since
she, with her inimitable energy and passion, are not afraid to talk about
values and ideological topics that might provoke many voters.
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As a key figure behind the formation of the current
centre-right coalition, her departure risk to open fractures in the coalition
if her successor do not feel as strongly about the need to keep the Social
Democrats down.
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“It is no longer normal that the Social Democrats govern the
country, it is no longer normal for the centre-right to quarrel. Today we have
a better government,” she summoned her own effort.
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But then she came to a number of challenges that the coalition,
and Sweden, face in the near future.
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"The renewal must continue," Olofsson said. She then
sent an appreciative salute to the country's immigrants.
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“Welfare dependency, unemployment, segregation and crime - we
have many negative words for immigrants. Think how rarely you hear about all
that is positive.”
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“There are other ways to describe immigration. I find
creativity, I find kindness, I find entrepreneurship, an indomitable will, and
an indomitable enthusiasm.”
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Then she talked about the immigrants in Sweden today.
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“Do you know that Sweden has a net increase of 10,000 highly
skilled immigrants every year? One of three pharmacists, and one of four doctors,
are people with foreign backgrounds. Dear friends, it is immigrants who carry
the core of our welfare on their shoulders.”
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And then she talked about those who will come.
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"I would like to say, 'We want you to contribute, we want
you to start a business, we want you to help us build a society of pioneers in
Sweden'. Let us help them and welcome them."
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“The problem is not the immigrants, the problem is the
immigration policy.”
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Her entire speech was permeated by her absolute affair of the
heart: entrepreneurship.
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"I think we are in a transition period where we move from
a Sweden of big business to a Sweden of entrepreneurs.”
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She also emphasised the threat of climate change, and warned
that the issue has almost fallen into oblivion.
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“Emissions do not decrease, they increase. The situation is
urgent.”
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“Half of the world's population lives in cities, this places new
demands on how to build sustainable cities. We need more efficient vehicles,
energy efficiency, and climate friendly products.”
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Olofsson finished her speech by once again becoming nostalgic.
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“There have been some tough decisions, but I'm so glad to have
been a part of influencing policy”.
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“I am eternally grateful that I have been able to make this
journey and I will carry it with me throughout life.”
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It was an emotional Olofsson, who even shed a tear, that then
received a standing ovation from party colleagues and political
supporters.
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David Jonasson
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The centre party
just wins the finnish general elections
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16/03/2003 - Results
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6300 votes separated the Centre (KESK) from the Social
Democrat Parties (SPD), hence the centre-right movement just pulled through in
the general elections of 16th March and became the country's leading political
movement. This was a snatched victory but a victory nevertheless, that will
enable the president of the party, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, to become, in all
probability, (the new Finnish Constitution grants the leader of the movement
that won the greatest number of votes with the initiative of creating the
future government) the first woman Prime Minister of a Scandinavian country. We
should point out that Finland already has a woman President (Tarja Halonen,
elected on 6th February 2000) and the outgoing Parliament was also led by a
woman.
After eight years of opposition the Centre Party has come back to power winning
24.7% of the votes cast and 55 seats in the Eduskunta/Riksdag (the Finnish
Parliament). But defeat was more than honourable for the Social Democrat Party
that won 24.5% of the vote ie 1.6 points more than during the last general
elections on 21st March 1999 and has won two additional seats. Paavo Lipponen
can be proud of being the first head of government to have improved the
performance of his political movement since 1983. The Conservative Assembly
(KOK) is the first victim of the political bipolarity, winning just 18.5% of
the vote ie a drop of 2.5 points in comparison with the general election of
1999, and losing six seats in Parliament. It might be the great loser in this
election, since Finnish tradition decrees that two of the three major movements
join forces at the expense of the third.
The two other partners in the outgoing government coalition have also suffered
a drop in their electorate: the Left Alliance (VAS) won 9.9% of the vote and
lost one seat, the Swedish People's Party (SFP) won 4.6% of the vote and lost
three seats. The Greens (VIHR) however seem to have benefited from their
decision to leave the government in May 2002 after the vote giving the go ahead
for the construction of a new nuclear reactor, since they won 8% of the vote
and won three seats. The Greens are the most feminised political movement in
Finland; indeed their parliamentary group includes 11 woman for three men only.
We should also note that the participation rate that has been dropping
regularly over the last 20 years in Finland was higher than that recorded in
the general elections of 21st March 1999: 69.6%, ie 4.4 points more. The
participation rate was particularly high in the capital, Helsinki.
More than 2000 candidates from twenty political movements stood during the
elections on 16th March of which four parties were standing for the first time.
25.5% of the Finns chose to vote early between 5th and 11th March ie slightly
less than during the last general elections on 21st March 1999 (26.9%). We
should note that these elections were supervised by foreign observers who came
from developing countries on the invitation of the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Negotiations will start as early as Wednesday between the different groups with
the aim of forming a government. "I am going to allow for all
alternatives", declared Anneli Jäätteenmäki when the election results were
announced, saying that she "had nothing against" an alliance with the
Social Democrats. The outgoing coalition that assembles the Social Democrat
Party, the Left Alliance, the Conservative Assembly and the Swedish People's
Party have a majority in Parliament with 120 seats. However the continuation of
this coalition is quite improbable, since the Centre Party's victory makes them
an unavoidable movement in the future government. "The alliance between
the social democrats and conservatives is out of the question since it does not
reflect the people's will", stressed Anneli Jäätteenmäki.
As soon as the results were announced the possibility of a coalition between
the Centre party and the Social Democrat Party was revealed. The two movements
might easily come to an agreement and would not be at all obliged to find any
other allies to govern, since together they have 108 of the 200 seats in the
Eduskunta/Riksdag, ie an absolute majority. Although during the electoral
campaign Paavo Lipponen repeated that he could not be counted on if his party
lost, the outgoing Prime Minister might become slightly more co-operative over
the next few days. Finally the president of the Centre Party might still call
on the Conservative Assembly to form a centre right coalition if she fails to
convince the Social Democrat leader, in the ilk of the government in Finland at
the start of the 1990's.
In just a few months Anneli Jäätteenmäki has succeeded in winning over both her
party and her country. In June 2002 she became the first woman to take the head
of the Centre Party succeeding the former Prime Minister Esko Aho. Nine months
later she is on the verge of becoming the first woman to lead the Finnish
government. Anneli Jäätteenmäki who is 48 years old and a trained lawyer,
became famous as Justice Minister, a post which she was appointed to in 1994 in
the government led by Esko Aho (1994-1995).
Her unfortunate rival, Paavo Lipponen, probably failed due to his inability to
lower the unemployment level that lies at 9.1% and comprises the main economic
problem in Finland. "The first thing I shall do will be to create jobs, we
spend 7 billion euros per year on unemployment and we shall be able and must
use this money for something else. Otherwise we shall not be able to continue
with our social protection." declared Anneli Jäätteenmäki before the general
elections. In order to fight against unemployment the Centre Party promotes the
"liberation of work", recommending the reduction in employers'
contributions so that companies can take people on.
In Finland no-one is expecting radical changes in political life since the
programmes of the various parties converge on several points. Only the form of
the future government is still unknown even though all the political analysts
are tending towards a coalition of the Centre and Social Democrat Parties. The
first session of the new Finnish parliament will be held on 26th March.
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General Election Results of 16th March
2003:
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Participation : 69.6%
