Social Democratic Party of Finland
| Social Democratic Party of Finland | |
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| Finnish name | Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue |
| Swedish name | Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti |
| Leader | Jutta Urpilainen |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Headquarters | Saariniemenkatu 6 00530 HELSINKI FINLAND |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| European Parliament Group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Official colours | Red |
| Parliament: |  |
| European Parliament: |  |
| Municipalities:[1] |  |
| Website | |
| http://www.sdp.fi | |
| Politics of Finland Political parties Elections |
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The Social Democratic Party of Finland (in Finnish: Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue, SDP, colloquially demarit; in Swedish: Finlands socialdemokratiska parti) is one of the most influential political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. It has been in the Cabinet for long periods of time, the last time in 1995–2007, and has set many fundamental policies of the Finnish state. SDP's social democratic politics are generally more moderate than those of the parliament's other left-leaning party, the Left Alliance. SDP aims to group together people in order to achieve social democratic goals: a society in which freedom, equality, solidarity and co-operation thrives in a peaceful and clean environment.[2] SDP is a member of the Socialist International. SDP has a close relationship with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.
In the early 20th century SDP steadily commanded some 40% of the vote, but after the Finnish Civil War of 1918, communists split from the party to form the Communist Party of Finland. After that, SDP has commanded 20–29% of the total votes in all elections where communists or their fronts have been allowed to operate. Even after support for the communist electoral organization SKDL dwindled in the 1980s, SDP's share of the popular vote has remained at 21–28 percent. The Social Democratic Party has about 59,000 members. Jutta Urpilainen is the party's current leader. Tarja Halonen was SDP's winning candidate for presidency of Finland in 2000 and 2006. The two preceding presidents have been SDP members as well. In the 2007 parliamentary election, SDP received 21.4 percent of the vote and lost 8 seats to bring its total down to 45. In 2008 municipal elections, SDP continued its decline with the largest drop since 1960.[3]
Note that despite the fact that "sosiaali" in Finnish has a long "a", the name of this party is spelt with a short "a", for historical reasons. The official name (as registered in the Finnish party register) is Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue / Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti r.p.
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History
The party was founded as the Finnish Labour Party (in Finnish: Suomen Työväenpuolue) in 1899. The name was changed to the present form in 1903. The party remained a chiefly extra-parliamentary movement until the universal suffrage of 1906, after which SDP's share of the votes and seats at best reached 47% in 1916, when the party secured a majority in the parliament. This was the only time in the history of Finland when one party has had a majority in the parliament. It lost its majority in the 1917 election and in 1918 started a rebellion that escalated into the Finnish Civil War.
Former SDP members created the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. The war resulted in most party leaders on all levels being killed, imprisoned or seeking refuge in Soviet Russia. In addition, the process leading to the Civil War and the war itself had stripped the party of its legitimacy and respectability in Finnish political life in the eyes of the right-wing majority. However, the political support for the party remained strong, and in the elections of 1919, the party, reorganised by Väinö Tanner, gained some 80 of the 200 seats in the parliament. Some refugee Social Democrats founded the Communist Party of Finland in Moscow in 1918. Although the Communist Party was banned in Finland until 1945, the support of the Finnish working class was in the following elections divided between the Social Democrats and organizations acting as communist fronts.
It became the life's work of Väinö Tanner to regain the SDP's reputation as a party capable of dealing with serious matters, such as governing Finland. The result was a much more patriotic SDP, leaning less to the left and relatively isolated from its Nordic sister parties. P.E. Svinhufvud's animosity however kept SDP out of the government during his presidency in 1931-1937. With the exception of a brief period in 1926, SDP was excluded from Cabinet participation until Kyösti Kallio was elected President in 1937. During World War II the party played a central role in a series of broad coalition Cabinets, symbolizing national unity forged in response to the threat of the USSR in the Winter War in 1939-40.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.[4]
During the first few months of the Continuation War (1941-1944) the country, the parliament, and the Cabinet were divided on the question whether Finland's army should stop at the old border and thereby demonstratively refrain from any attempts of conquests. The country's dangerous position called however for national unity, and the party's leadership chose to refrain from any visible protests. This decision is often indicated as one of the main reasons behind post-war division and the high percentage of Communist voters in the first elections after the Continuation War.
After the Continuation War, the Communist Party was allowed to work openly, and the main feature of Finnish political life during period 1944–1949 was fierce competition between the Social Democrats and the Communists for voters and control of the labor unions. At this time, the political field was divided roughly equally between the Social Democrats, Communists and the Agrarian League, each party commanding some 25% of the vote. In the post-war era, the Social Democratic party adopted a line defending the Finnish sovereignty and democracy in line with the Agrarian League and other bourgeois parties, finally leading to the expulsion of the Communists from the Cabinet in 1949. However, it remained obvious that the Soviet Union was much more openly critical against SDP than against the "openly" bourgeois parties.
Because of the anti-communist activities, the CIA of the United States funded the party. The money was laundered by giving it to Nordic sister parties, which delivered it, or to organizations that bought "luxury goods" such as coffee abroad and imported them and sold them with a high profit; the post-war rationing served to inflate prices.
In the presidential election of 1956, SDP's candidate Karl-August Fagerholm lost with only one single elector's vote to Urho Kekkonen. Fagerholm would act as a Prime Minister in 1956-1957 and 1958-1959. The latter Cabinet was, however, forced to resign due to Soviet pressure, leading to a series of Agrarian League Cabinets. In 1958 a faction of the party resigned and formed the Alliance of Finnish Workers and Small Farmers (TPSL) around the former SDP chairman Emil Skog due to the election of Väinö Tanner as party chairman. The dispute was over several issues: should SDP function as an interest group or not, and should they co-operate with the anti-Communists and right-wingers or President Kekkonen, the Agrarians and Communists. During the 1960s, this fraction dwindled, its members returning little by little to the SDP or joining the Communists. The founder himself, Emil Skog, returned in 1965, and in 1970, the fraction lost its seats in the parliament.
Only in 1966, SDP was able to satisfy the Soviet Union about its friendly attitude towards her and could return to the Cabinet. Since then, SDP has been represented in most Finnish Cabinets, often cooperating with the Centre Party (former Agrarian League), but sometimes also with the National Coalition Party.
The most recent opposition period in addition to the current (2007–) occurred in 1991–1995, when the Cabinet was formed by the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party.
Prime Minister Lipponen headed cabinets 1995-2003. During this time, the party adopted its current pro-European line and contributed actively to the Finnish membership in the European Union in 1995 in concert with the Cabinet. SDP won 53 of the 200 seats in Parliament in the March 16, 2003 elections, which ended in a very close run with the Centre Party. As a result, SDP's chairman Paavo Lipponen became the Speaker of Parliament, and the Centre chairwoman Anneli Jäätteenmäki became Prime Minister for a coalition Cabinet that also included the minor Swedish People's Party beside the two major partners. SDP had eight portfolios in the Cabinet. After two months Jäätteenmäki resigned due to a scandal and was replaced by Matti Vanhanen.
Latest elections
In the 2007 elections, the party lost eight seats and finished with the third place. The chairman of the largest party, Matti Vanhanen, was named Prime minister, but he selected the second-most popular National Coalition party, the Greens and the Swedish People's Party to the cabinet, leaving the Social Democrats into the opposition. Eero Heinäluoma did not immediately resign as a party chairman. However, he announced his withdrawal from the next vote for party chairman on the next party conference, where he was replaced by Jutta Urpilainen.
Majority of SDP members are recently over 60 years old.[5] Approximately 60% of the members are men.[6]
Prominent Social Democrats
- Oskari Tokoi
- Yrjö Sirola - Founder of the Communist Party of Finland.
- Väinö Tanner: Prime Minister, Foreign Minister during the Winter War
- Karl-August Fagerholm: Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament
- Rafael Paasio: Prime Minister
- Kalevi Sorsa: Prime Minister
- Mauno Koivisto: President 1982–1994
- Martti Ahtisaari: President 1994–2000
- Erkki Tuomioja: Foreign Minister 2000–2007
- Paavo Lipponen: Prime Minister 1995–2003 and Speaker of Parliament
- Tarja Halonen: President 2000–
Chairmen[7]
- Nils Robert af Ursin - 1899-1900
- J. A. Salminen - 1900
- K. F. Hellstén - 1900-1903
- Taavi Tainio - 1903-1905
- Emil Perttilä - 1905-1906
- Edvard Valpas - 1906-1909
- Matti Paasivuori - 1909-1911
- Otto Wille Kuusinen - 1911-1913
- Matti Paasivuori - 1913-1917
- Kullervo Manner - 1917-1918
- Väinö Tanner - 1918-1926
- Matti Paasivuori - 1926-1930
- Kaarlo Harvala - 1930-1942
- Väinö Salovaara - 1942-1944
- Onni Hiltunen - 1944-1946
- Emil Skog - 1946-1957
- Väinö Tanner - 1957-1963
- Rafael Paasio - 1963-1975
- Kalevi Sorsa - 1975-1987
- Pertti Paasio - 1987-1991
- Ulf Sundqvist - 1991-1993
- Paavo Lipponen - 1993-2005
- Eero Heinäluoma - 2005-2008
- Jutta Urpilainen - 2008-
Election results
Parliament
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Municipal
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European Parliament
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Presidential
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External links
- Official website in Finnish (Finnish)
- Official website in English (English)
References
- ↑ "Municipal elections 2008, number of elected councillors". Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=630_kvaa_2008_2009-10-30_tau_139_en&ti=Municipal+elections+2008%2C+number+of+elected+councillors&path=../Database/StatFin/vaa/kvaa/2008_05/&lang=1&multilang=en. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ↑ [1] SDP goals
- ↑ Suosio putosi alemmaksi kuin vuosikymmeniin: Sdp ja keskusta romahtivat vahvoilla kannatusalueillaan. Turun Sanomat. 28.10.2008
- ↑ Kowalski, Werner. Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 - 19. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985.
- ↑ Puoluetoiminta jäänyt häviölle kilvassa ihmisten ajankäytöstä Turun Sanomat 23.3.2008
- ↑ Kokoomus, vihreät ja perussuomalaiset kasvattavat jäsenmääriään Helsingin Sanomat 2.8.2008
- ↑ "Chairmen of SDP". SDP. http://www.sdp.fi/fi/sdp-arkisto/sdpn_historiaa/puheenjohtajat_1899_-.
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