Left Alliance (Finland)

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Left Alliance
Vasemmistoliitto
Vänsterförbundet
Chairman Paavo Arhinmäki
Secretary Marko Varajärvi
Founded 1990
Merger of SKDL & SKP
Headquarters Viherniemenkatu 5 A
FI-00530 HELSINKI
Newspaper Kansan Uutiset
Youth wing Left Youth
Women's wing Left Women
Children's wing Democratic Union of Finnish Pioneers
Membership  (2011) 10,500[1]
Ideology Democratic socialism[2][3]
Eco-socialism[2]
Eurocommunism
Political position Left-wing
International affiliation None
European affiliation Party of the European Left[4]
Nordic Green Left Alliance
European Parliament group European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours Red, Green
Parliament[5]
12 / 200
European Parliament
0 / 13
Municipalities
640 / 9,674
Website
http://www.vasemmisto.fi/
Politics of Finland
Political parties
Elections

The Left Alliance (Finnish: Vasemmistoliitto, Swedish: Vänsterförbundet, VAS) is a left-wing political party in Finland.[6] It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990.

In parliamentary elections, Left Alliance share of the vote has been close to ten percent. The Left Alliance had three portfolios in the two cabinets of Paavo Lipponen (1995-2003), and has two in the current cabinet of Jyrki Katainen (2011-). It is a member of the Party of the European Left and Nordic Green Left Alliance. The party currently has 12 MPs in the Finnish Eduskunta: it won 14 seats in the latest election, but two MPs were expelled from the parliamentary group after repeatedly breaking from the official party line. The party lost its only remaining MEP in the 2009 European elections.

The party organ is the weekly Kansan Uutiset.

History

The party was founded as a result of a merger between the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), Democratic Alternative (an orthodox pro-Soviet communist party), the Finnish Women's Democratic League (SNDL) and the Communist Party of Finland (SKP). The founding meeting was held in April 1990 in Helsinki, following the publishing of the April Declaration, which emphasised various ideals.

The party's short history has been characterised by internal disputes and bickering, as it was formed by people with very different views on society. There have been several defections from the Left Alliance to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the newly formed Communist Party of Finland. In 2005, the party's former secretary and Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions's assistant head Matti Viialainen formed a society to promote merger between the two largest Finnish left-wing political parties, the Left Alliance and the SDP. This caused an outrage within the Left Alliance, and Viialainen was condemned for wanting to break up the party. Viialainen would subsequently leave the party and run for parliament on the SDP ticket in 2007.[7]

In 2006, the party's leader Suvi-Anne Siimes announced her resignation from the post, and the party, as a result of long-standing feuds with the leftist section of the party. On May 13, 2006, Martti Korhonen was elected as the new party leader. He was followed by Paavo Arhinmäki in June 2009, following the party's bad performance in the 2009 EU parliamentary election.

Ideology

Left Alliance party program adopted by the 5th Party Congress 16 June 2007: The fundamental values of Left Alliance are equality, freedom and sustainable development, democracy must be strengthened, democracy must be stronger than the power of capital, challenging the global capitalism, getting world into solidarity and stop Finnish polarization, freedom and the right to work and income for all people, environmentally conscious Finland.[3]

Some in the party accept the EU and others reject it. The younger generation is more pro-EU than the older.

Chairs

Elections results

Presidential elections

Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
# of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall votes % of overall vote
1994 Claes Andersson 122,820 3.8 (#6)
2000 None
2006 Supported Tarja Halonen
2012 Paavo Arhinmäki 167, 359 5.5 (#6)
Parliamentary elections
Year MPs Votes
1991 19 274 639 10.08 %
1995 22 310 340 11.16 %
1999 20 291 675 10.88 %
2003 19 277 152 9.93 %
2007 17 244 296 8.82 %
2011 14 238 437 8.15 %
    Municipal elections
Year Councillors Votes
1992 1 319 310 757 11.67 %
1996 1 128 246 597 10.37 %
2000 1 027 219 671 9.88 %
2004 987 228 358 9.56 %
2008 833 224 170 8.78 %
2012 640 199 312 8.0 %

European Parliament

Election year # of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall seats won +/-
1996 236,490 10.51 (#4)
2 / 16
1999 112,757 9.08 (#5)
1 / 16
Decrease 1
2004 151,291 9.13 (#5)
1 / 14
Steady 0
2009 98,690 5.93 (#7)
0 / 13
Decrease 1

References

External links

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