Liberalism and centrism in Finland

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This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in Finland. It is limited to liberal and centrist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Introduction

Liberalism was a major force in Finland since 1894. After independence the current gradually decreased. A major other force, agrarianism, choose in 1965 to develop itself into a more centrist current. The liberal character of the Finnish Center (Suomen Keskusta), member of LI and ELDR, is based on liberal ideas like decentralization, peasant-like freedom and progressivism.^[1] The Swedish minority party Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland, is also a member of LI, ELDR). The original liberal current is now organized in the Liberals (Liberaalit), a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous island of Åland the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland, observer LI) are a dominant force.

The timeline

Liberal Club / Liberal Party

• 1877: Liberals formed the Liberal Club (Liberaalinen Klubi), renamed in 1880 Liberal Party (Liberaalinen Puolue)
• 1882: The Liberal Party disappeared

From Young Finnish Party to Liberals

• 1894: Liberal fennomans formed the Young Finns Party (Nuorsuomalainen Puolue)
• 1918: The NSP is reorganised into the National Progressive Party (Kansallinen Edistyspuolue)
• 1951: The KEP fell apart into the Finnish People's Party (Suomen Kansanpuolue) and the ⇒ Free-minded League
• 1965: The SK and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunited into the Liberal People's Party (Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue)
• 1982: The LKP associated itself with the ⇒ Center Party
• 1987: The LKP disassociated itself from the ⇒ Center Party
• 1995: Last time LKP had a seat in the parliament, since then has been a very small extra-parliamentary party
• 2000: The LKP renamed itself as Liberals (Liberaalit)
• 2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections

Swedish People's Party

• 1906 Liberal svekomans formed the present-day Swedish People's Party in Finland (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland)

People's Party

• 1917: Progressive liberals formed the People's Party (Finland) (Kansanpuolue)
• 1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party

Free-minded League

• 1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten Liitto) is formed
• 1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's Party

Centre Party / Finnish Centre

Centrists

• 1965: The agrarian Agrarian League (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the Centre Party (Keskustapuolue) and accepted a more or less liberal position
• 1987: The Centre Party is renamed Finnish Centre (Suomen Keskusta)

Liberal and centrist leaders

• Kansallinen Edistyspuolue: Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
• Keskusta: Esko Aho
• Keskusta: Anneli Jäätteenmäki
• Keskusta: Matti Vanhanen
• Keskusta: Mari Kiviniemi

Liberal thinkers

In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Finnish thinker is included:

• Santeri Alkio (Finland, 1862-1930)
• Anders Chydenius (Finland, 1729-1803)

See also

• History of Finland
• Politics of Finland
• List of political parties in Finland

References

1. ^ Mylly, Juhani. Maalaisliitto-Keskustan historia II. http://www.hs.fi/kirjat/artikkeli/Suomen+keskustanv%C3%A4kev%C3%A4+nuoruusMaalaisliiton+historian+toinen+osa+on+j%C3%A4rjest%C3%B6historian+eliitti%C3%A4/900525165