Parliamentary elections were held in
Finland on 4 and 5 February 1962.
[ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p606 ]
Background
V. J. Sukselainen
Vieno Johannes (V.J.) "Jussi" Sukselainen (12 October 1906 – 6 April 1995; surname until 1928 ''Saari''), was twice Prime Minister of Finland and four times Speaker of the Parliament. He was President of the Nordic Council in 1972 and 1977. ...
's second minority government had resigned in 1961, followed by Prime Minister
Martti Miettunen
Martti Juhani Miettunen (17 April 1907 – 19 January 2002), was a Finnish politician who served twice as Finland's prime minister, from 1961 to 1962 and again from 1975 to 1977.
Miettunen was born in Simo, the son of a smallholder. He studi ...
's
Agrarian first government, also a centrist minority government. In the spring of 1961,
Olavi Honka
Olavi is a Finnish masculine given name from Olav/Olaf
Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed a ...
, a former Chancellor of Justice (Attorney General), accepted the presidential candidacy of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
,
National Coalition Party,
Swedish People's Party,
People's Party,
Smallholders' Party and the
Liberal League. This Honka Alliance's goal was to defeat President
Urho Kekkonen in the
presidential elections
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pr ...
of January and February 1962.
However, their plans were derailed in October 1961 when the
Soviet Union sent a diplomatic note to Finland, asking it to participate in negotiations about the two countries' military co-operation. The Soviet government claimed that militarism and neo-Nazism were increasing in
West Germany, and that Finland and the Soviet Union would have to negotiate on the basis of the Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance Treaty. During the
Note Crisis, in late November Kekkonen dissolved Parliament and called early elections for February 1962. Shortly thereafter, Honka ended his presidential candidacy "for the fatherland's interest." Kekkonen travelled to
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
in the Soviet Union, where he negotiated briefly with the Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev. Again Khrushchev assured Kekkonen that all was well in the Finnish-Soviet relations, despite the efforts of "anti-Soviet" Finns to worsen them.
Campaign
The parliamentary elections were held in the first week of February 1962, between the Electoral College elections and the second phase of the presidential elections. The parties that still opposed Kekkonen's re-election had trouble campaigning in both the presidential and the parliamentary elections. After the parliamentary elections,
Ahti Karjalainen of the Agrarian League formed a centre-right majority government that remained in office until December 1963. It was replaced by another caretaker government, led by Bureau Chief (a senior civil servant)
Reino Lehto
Reino Ragnar Lehto (2 May 1898 – 13 July 1966; surname until 1901 ''Lagerlund'') served as caretaker Prime Minister of Finland from 1963 to 1964, then served as governor of Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a regio ...
.
[Seppo Zetterberg (2003) ''A Small Giant of the Finnish History'', WSOY]
Results
References
{{Finnish elections
General elections in Finland
Finland
Parliament
Finland
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results