The Left Alliance ( fi, Vasemmistoliitto , sv, Vänsterförbundet, vas.) is a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
political party in Finland
This article is a list of political parties in Finland, which includes Finland's national-level political parties and excludes local and provincial parties (such as the parties of Åland). A party is defined as a political association whose exis ...
.
The Left Alliance was founded in 1990 as the chief successor of the left-wing
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic P ...
(SKDL). Although not as electorally successful as the SKDL, it has achieved some success, typically receiving around eight to ten percent of the vote in parliamentary elections. It has participated in five cabinets, most recently the
Marin Cabinet
The Marin Cabinet is the incumbent 76th government of Finland. It was formed following the collapse of the Rinne Cabinet and officially took office on 10 December 2019. The cabinet headed by Sanna Marin consists of a coalition formed by the Socia ...
formed in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. It is
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
, and
democratic-socialist, and it supports the principles of
eco-socialism
Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...
.
A member of the
Party of the European Left
The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. ...
and
Nordic Green Left Alliance, the party organ is the weekly ''
Kansan Uutiset
''Kansan Uutiset'' ( Finnish: "People's News") is a Finnish language weekly newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland. It is the party organ of the Left Alliance.
History and profile
''Kansan Uutiset'' was founded in 1957 as the joint organ of C ...
''. It provides the Government of the
Sanna Marin
Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Finland since 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), she has been a Member of Parliament since 2015.
...
with two ministers,
Li Andersson as the
Education Minister and
Hanna Sarkkinen as the Minister of Social Affairs and Health.
History
The party was founded by the
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic P ...
(SKDL), the majority of members of the waning
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.
The SKP was banned ...
(SKP) and the Finnish Women's Democratic League (SNDL). It was later joined by the communist
Democratic Alternative. The founding meeting was held in April 1990 in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, following the publishing of the ''April Declaration'', which stated the party's ideals.
The party's history has been characterised by internal disputes and bickering, as it was formed via 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
The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.
The SKP was banned ...
. In 2005, the party's former secretary and
Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK ( fi, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö; sv, Finlands Fackförbunds Centralorganisation, FFC) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its ...
's assistant head
Matti Viialainen
Matti may refer to:
* Matti (given name), people with the given name
* Matti (surname), people with the surname
* Matti, Karnataka, a village in India
* ''Matti: Hell Is for Heroes'', a 2006 film about Matti Nykänen
See also
* Masa (disamb ...
formed a group to promote a 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 subsequently left the party and ran for parliament on the SDP ticket in 2007.
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 13 May 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, in which the party lost its only seat.
In the 2011 election, the party won 14 seats and became a partner in the six-party grand coalition
cabinet led by
Jyrki Katainen. The decision to join the government created a split in the party, leading to the expulsion of two MPs from the parliamentary group. In 2014 the Left Alliance left the cabinet over a dispute on a package of spending cuts and tax hikes. In
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
European Parliament election, the party regained their seat.
In the
2015 parliamentary election, the party received 211,615 votes, 7.1% of the total, and won 12 seats in the parliament. In April 2016, Arhinmäki announced that he wouldn't seek another term as the party leader. On 11 June 2016, Arhinmäki was succeeded by
Li Andersson. Under the leadership of Andersson, the party gained support in the
2017 municipal elections and the
2019 parliamentary election; in the latter, the party increased its representation in the parliament for the first time since 1995.
Ideology and policies
According to the Left Alliance's party programme, adopted by the 5th Party Congress 16 June 2007, the fundamental values of the Left Alliance are equality, freedom, sustainable development, and democracy. The party believes democracy must be strengthened, stronger than the power of capital and challenge global capitalism. Important values also include global solidarity, stopping political polarisation in Finland, freedom and the right to work and income for all people, and environmental consciousness.
The party is for equality in all its forms and identifies strongly as
feminist and anti-racist as well as supporting economic equality. The party supports introducing a
universal basic income
Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
and prioritizes supporting the weakest members of society.
The Left Alliance wants to improve the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
to be more socially just.
The party endorses a European
Green New Deal
Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...
via changing the
European Central Bank's finance-sector
quantitative easing
Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action whereby a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary pol ...
stimulus into
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
stimulus
A stimulus is something that causes a physiological response. It may refer to:
*Stimulation
**Stimulus (physiology), something external that influences an activity
**Stimulus (psychology), a concept in behaviorism and perception
*Stimulus (economi ...
investments to mitigate global warming and to provide
green collar jobs.
The Party has traditionally been one of the staunch opposers of a NATO membership.
After Finland considered an
accession bid to the NATO in May 2022, the party was in doubt whether to officially support an eventual NATO membership but assured it would stay in the Finnish Government in the case it would make one. During its annual party congress in June 2022, the alliance adapted its party program and now only demands an eventual NATO membership to remain defensive, with no permanent NATO military bases in the country.
It also demanded the
Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...
(PKK) to be taken off the terror list from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
.
Chairs
*
Claes Andersson (1990–1998)
*
Suvi-Anne Siimes (1998–2006)
*
Martti Korhonen (2006–2009)
*
Paavo Arhinmäki (2009–2016)
*
Li Andersson (2016–present)
Election results
Parliamentary elections
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Municipal elections
European Parliament
Presidential elections
Current members of parliament
The following politicians were elected to the
Finnish Parliament
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
in the
April 2019 parliamentary election.
*
Li Andersson
*
Paavo Arhinmäki (replaced by
Suldaan Said Ahmed on 9 September 2021)
*
Katja Hänninen
*
Anna Kontula
*
Johannes Yrttiaho
Johannes Yrttiaho (born in Turku 22 January 1980) is a Finnish politician who served in the Parliament of Finland for the Left Alliance (Finland), Left Alliance at the Varsinais-Suomi (parliamentary electoral district), Varsinais-Suomi district. ...
*
Mai Kivelä
*
Markus Mustajärvi
*
Jari Myllykoski
*
Aino-Kaisa Pekonen
*
Hanna Sarkkinen
*
Matti Semi
*
Veronika Honkasalo
*
Juho Kautto
*
Pia Lohikoski
Pia Marjaana Lohikoski is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Left Alliance (Finland), Left Alliance at the Uusimaa (constituency), Uusimaa constituency. She was first elected to office in 2019 Finnish pa ...
*
Jussi Saramo
*
Merja Kyllönen
References
External links
*
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