About political parties in Finland

Finland is a democratic country with a long-established multi-party political system that began its existence 134 years ago.?The following political organizations are registered in the country and have seats in parliament:

- "The Finnish Center" or simply "The Center" (FC for short),

- "True Finns",

- "National Coalition" ("Coalition Party"),

- "Social Democratic Party (SDP),

- "Green Union" (the so-called "Greens"),

- "Left Union" ("Union of the Left"),

- "Swedish People's Party" (the Swedish national minority party),

- "Christian Democrats," and others, for a total of 19 political parties.

How did multi-partyism begin in this country? I recommend applying to history, because you can find a lot of interesting and useful material, which connects our countries. At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a movement against the colonial oppression of tsarist Russia grows, there is a surge of civil consciousness and in both countries, there is a tectonic shift in societies through the creation of political movements and parties. Strengthening of national separatism on the fringes of the empire, both in the southern and western borders, was inevitable.

Thus, in Kazakhstan in 1905-1907 the rise of national liberation movement in our long-suffering country was accompanied by two main directions: traditionalist and pan-Islamist. The latter direction, connected with the Muslim movement of Central Asia, enjoyed tremendous support from the clergy and national intelligentsia of South Kazakhstan (which the Soviets would later call Basmachi). The pan-Turkist and modernist direction was based on the ideas of Turkic-Muslim unity and was supported by the intelligentsia and the young Kazakh bourgeoisie.?The traditionalist direction in the form of Kazakh bays (rich people) was both dissatisfied with the colonial policy of tsarist Russia and with the outright chauvinism of the Russian merchant class. Kazakh capital ran into competition from Russian capitalists who owned most of the primary processing plants for livestock and other agricultural products. In addition, the resettlement policy also affected the economic interests of the Byzantium. That is why the Kazakh bourgeoisie stood in opposition to the tsarist authorities, unlike in other colonies where the comprador bourgeoisie often cooperated with the colonizers.

The main struggle for the national liberation movement of the Kazakhs was led by the enlightened Kazakh bourgeoisie and national intelligentsia in the person of the brightest representatives of that time - Alash-Ordinians, who would later pay cruelly for their tolerance, intelligence, trust and patriotism, being repressed and shot in the 30s. The Alash movement declared a national party in July 1917, then in December of that year they established a Kazakh autonomy with the governing body Alash Orda, which existed until 1920. Alash Orda tried to lead Kazakhstan to bourgeois-capitalist relations through evolution with reforms, not revolution as the Soviets did. Therefore, it rejected the ideas and slogans of the October Revolution of 1917 and during the Civil War became an ally of anti-Soviet and anti-Bolshevik forces. In this confrontation, the Alash Party and the government of Alash-Orda were defeated, trusting the Soviet authorities began to agitate for them in the 20s. The last words before execution of the leader of Alash Orda Alikhan Bukeykhanov, the sultan and the Chingizid in 1937 were: "I didn't like the Soviet power, but I recognized it".???If it were not for the machinations of the Bolsheviks to establish Soviet power in the Kazakh steppe, their lies and deliberate destruction of our nation's nomadic way of life which led to the famine and demographic crisis, then present-day Kazakhstan would be an absolutely different country, somewhere similar to Finland, I mean the democratic foundations.?We can say that the starting positions of both countries were relatively identical, both Kazakhstan and Finland were agrarian countries. Just for comparison, who was at the head of the Soviet power - the outsiders with parochial education and who was a part of Alash Orda - all intelligentsia - educators, scientists, writers and descendants of the steppe aristocracy.

Let us return directly to the political parties of the Finns with a brief excursion into history.

In the 1960s in Finland, structural reforms aimed at modernizing the country led to the creation of the first political parties. The more so, the ideas of national identity (self-determination) and development, which had been floating around in the first half of the 19th century, became a mass movement. From 1863, the four-seat Landag (Sejm) began to be convened regularly once again, and the first parties emerged on the political scene - the conservative Fennonian Party (it means "right-wing supporters who advocate the elevation of the Finnish language") and later the more liberal Young Finnish Party. The interests of the Finnish Swedes were represented by the Swedish Party.

In 1906 the "Agrarian Union" was formed, a union of two unions of peasants of the regions of Oulu and South Pohjanmaa for the interests of the poor majority, which still has some political weight today. In 1965 they changed their name to the Party of the Center, and in 1988 - to the Finnish Center. At present it has over 280,000 members. Throughout almost the whole period of the country's independence, the Center Party was a member of the government. However, after the defeat at the parliamentary elections of 1995 it went into opposition. It relies mostly on the rural population and small and medium-sized business circles in the cities. The political influence of the Centre Party is greatest in small and rural municipalities, where it often holds the majority of seats in municipal councils. Decentralization is the policy most characteristic of the Center Party.?It is part of the Liberal International. After its defeat in 1995 due to a series of corruption scandals, became in opposition to the other parties.

The main "left-wing party" - the Social Democratic Party (SDP), although not the largest (currently 40 thousand members, previously about 100 thousand), but one of the oldest, "lineage" dates back to 1889, was founded in Turku region as the Finnish Labor Party. It is supported by workers, low- and middle-income employees, small businessmen and radical intellectuals. The main slogan is to reduce the income gap. Until 2023, the party was actively represented in the government, its most recognizable politician Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister, whom Finns themselves are ambivalent. On the world stage quite influential young Politian, who initiated Finland's entry into NATO (although at the beginning of her career was against it, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed her attitude dramatically), inside the country - she is often accused of excessive spending the state budget.

The largest "right-wing" - the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) was founded in 1918, has about 80 thousand members, pursues a liberal-conservative policy, is associated with industrial and financial capital, and has the support of highly educated and well-paid citizens. Incidentally, it is the party that came to power in the last elections of 2018, and its chairman Sauli Niinist? is the current president.

The Swedish People's Party (SPP) (SFP) was founded in 1906 and has about 50,000 members. It belongs to the political center. At the forefront puts forward the protection of interests of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The share of its supporters rather precisely coincides with the share of the Swedish population in Finland. Swedish is the native language of about 6% of the Finnish population. Thanks to its flexible policy, the Swedish People's Party is actively involved in the government. Everyone is used to the fact that year after year, regardless of the composition of the government, the Swedish People's Party is always represented in it. It is a member of the Liberal International.

The Left Union of Finland (La) was founded in April 1990 at the initiative and on the basis of the Democratic Union of the Finnish People (DSNF), founded in 1944 and which in 1990 proclaimed its dissolution, and the Communist Party of Finland (CPF), founded in 1918 and which in April decided to transfer its activities to the LSF. The political line of the party at this time does not differ significantly from that of the Social Democrats. The supporters of the left-wing party are generally industrial workers. The founders of the LSF aim to make the union the basis of a broad movement uniting the left wing of Finnish society.

Christian Union (KU) (SKL), founded in 1958. It has about 18,000 members. As a political force since 1970, its platform is protection of Christian values, preservation of identity of Finnish culture. Recently it has become more and more universal. The party is close to the political center, it holds conservative views, but at the same time pays much attention to social issues.

The Union of the Greens of Finland (GU) emerged in the late 1970s as a broad social movement for the protection of the environment and began to shape itself into a political party in the early 1980s. Ideological, political and organizational formation was completed in 1990. Ideologically, the Greens, whose popularity grows year by year, do not classify themselves as either bourgeois or left-wing. In Finland, the Greens are supported mainly by the educated urban youth.

Finally, the True Finns Party was formed in 1995 on the basis of the Agrarian Party. The positive image of this party was promoted by the fact that they acted as advocates of ordinary people, opposed mainstream parties and had a pronounced euro-scepticism, especially intensified after Finland's accession to the EU and the euro zone. Their strength and confidence were bolstered by ethno-nationalism due to growing internationalization and European integration, leading to an increase of immigrants in the country. They represent the radical right wing in the country's political spectrum, speculating on the theme of welfare chauvinism and drawing the electorate to the topic of misallocation of funds for social services. In its almost 30 years of existence as an ultra-radical party, the True Finns have gradually softened their rhetoric and made the transition to a moderate-conservative party, as their victory in the last parliamentary elections shows.

Finland's 77th government has now been formed, with President Sauli Niinist? accepting today the resignation of Sanna Marin's government and confirming Petteri Orpo (Coalition Party) as the new Prime Minister and a Cabinet of 4 party representatives: 6 ministers from the Coalition Party, the Speaker of Parliament and 8 ministers from the True Finns, the Swedish Party presented 3 ministers and the Christian Democrats took 2 ministerial chairs.

Finland faces challenging times, their new government promises to rethink its approach to the state budget and finances, calling for "tightening of belts to ensure the welfare of tomorrow as well."