Centre Party (Finland)
The Finnish Centre Party ( Finnish Suomen Keskusta, abbreviated Kesk, . Swedish centers i Finland), until 1965 Landbund (Finnish Maalaisliitto; schwed. Agrarförbundet ) is a rural - liberal party of the political center in Finland. She is a member of the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party (ELDR), the European Association of liberal parties.
History
The Land League was founded in 1906 to provide political representation for the rural population. In the first elections to the Finnish Parliament in March 1907, the party won 5.75 % of votes. The dominant parties in the Russian Empire at that time belonging to Finland were the Finnish party in addition to the Social Democratic Party of Finland and the Finnish young party, who found their voters aware Finnish circles and had, among others, the strengthening of the Finnish language as a target. Also had the Swedish People's Party with a vote share of over 12% compared with a high share of the vote today. Until the revolution in 1917 the Land League was able to increase its share of the vote in the held almost every year parliamentary elections to over 12%. When in November 1917 formed a Finnish Cabinet Pehr Evind Svinhufvud of the Young Finnish Party for the first time, was a member of the Agrarian League Government. The party supported the formation of a republic and turned so against a possible monarchy.
In the first election after independence, the country Confederation increased its share of the vote and was strongly behind the Social Democratic Party 's second strongest political force. 1922 with Kyösti Kallio for the first time a country Bund Member Finnish Prime Minister. Lauri Kristian Relander 1925 was elected President in 1937 and as President Kyösti Kallio was already six cabinets had ruled under the leadership of politicians of the Land League (four times under Kallio, twice under Juho Sunila ).
After the war, the Land League was an integral part of numerous coalitions. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s provided the party with Urho Kekkonen, Vieno Sukselainen Martti Miettunen, Ahti Karjalainen and John Virolainen several times the Prime Minister. Urho Kekkonen also became the third and so far last President of the Land League in 1956.
The party is originally agrarian background, opened but since the 1960s for urban liberal voters, which was also carried out externally with the renaming of the party in 1965 in the Centre Party. To date, however, there are internal differences between the rural and the urban wing of the party. In 1959, a Kekkonen critical group split their, who subsequently sold the populist protest party land formed Party of Finland and in the parliamentary elections in 1970 won over 10 % of the vote. The Centre Party was in the elections for the first time since 1922 under the 20 - % level and at the following election, her election results had stabilized at around 17.5%. Since 1988, the party is officially called Suomen Keskusta (English Finnish Centre).
1990 Esko Aho was party chairman. A year later, the center reached 24.8 %, the strongest result since 1930 and Aho was elected Prime Minister. The inclusion of Finland in the European Union in 1995 is often regarded as Ahos merit. Nevertheless, the center was especially set rather EU skeptical about the turn of the millennium.
In the parliamentary elections of 2007, the party won 23% of the vote and 51 seats was the strongest party in the Finnish parliament. They led a coalition government with the National Coalition Party, the Greens and the Swedish People's Party Federation. The center presented Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi and seven other ministers. In the 2011 election, the center suffered the worst result since 1917. With 15.8% the party had fallen behind the Coalition Party, the Social Democrats and the right-wing populist base Finns.
In spring 2012, internal strife had increased in the center, so that the chairman Mari Kiviniemi announced with reference to even poll ratings for the party, not to stand again for the party chairmanship available. There is disagreement, especially in the EU and euro question. At the same time penetrate parts of the party to return to its former role as a representation of structured agrarian land areas. At the municipal election in October 2012, the Center received 18.7%.
With 163,000 members (as of 2011 ) it is by far the largest membership of any party in Finland, where it has lost in the period from 2008 to 2011, about eight percent of its members ( previously 176 000 ). Your best choice results it brings in the landscapes of Southern, Central and Northern Ostrobothnia while in cities continues to play a subordinate role.