| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Eduskunta - Riksdagen / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
17 April 2011 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Following amendments to the Electoral Act, which came into force in 2010, the 2011 elections were held in April instead of March (see note).
In the previous elections held in March 2007, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's Centre Party (KESK) took 51 of the 200 seats at stake. In April, he formed a new coalition government comprising his KESK, the National Coalition Party (KOK, 50 seats), the Green League (15 seats) and the Swedish People's Party (nine seats). Other parties that won parliamentary representation were the Social Democratic Party (SDP, 45 seats), the Left Alliance (17 seats), the Christian Democrats (KD, seven seats) and True Finns (five seats).
As a result of the global economic crisis, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) shrunk by 8.1 per cent in 2009 but grew by 3.1 per cent in 2010.
In June 2010, Mr. Vanhanen stepped down as KESK leader and Prime Minister following funding scandals in his party. Ms. Mari Kiviniemi took over both posts, becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Finland. She led the same four-party coalition government until the 2011 elections.
On 16 February 2011, the outgoing legislature voted to approve several constitutional amendments, with 144 votes in favour and 29 against. In order to take effect, however, they needed to be approved by the new legislature, to be elected in April. One of the amendments specifically states that Finland is a member of the European Union (EU). Another stipulates that any disagreement between the country's President and the Government must be resolved by the Parliament.
Parliament was dissolved on 15 March in view of elections in which 2,315 candidates, including 903 women, were running.
Major election issues at the beginning of the campaign included taxation and compulsory teaching of Swedish. Swedish speakers live mainly in the south and west of the country and account for 5.5 per cent of the country's 5.3 million inhabitants. Swedish has been an official language in the country's schools since 1919 and accounts for 10 per cent of air time on the two main State TV channels. The Swedish People's Party draws its support from the Swedish community.
The KESK and the KOK called for an increase in value-added tax (VAT) except on foodstuffs and medicines and a reduction in corporate tax, two proposals rejected by Ms. Jutta Urpilainen's SDP. Prime Minister Kiviniemi suggested that Swedish-language education be replaced by Russian in the east of Finland. The True Finns, led by Mr. Timo Soini, called for fewer programmes in Swedish on State television.
The debates on taxation and the Swedish language were pushed to the backburner after 6 April, when Portugal officially requested a financial bailout from the EU. Finland's financial contribution to the EU became the focus of the election campaign. Finland had granted a loan of 1.48 billion euros to Greece and 160 million euros to Iceland as part of the EU bailout to these countries. The EU was planning to increase the loan capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to 440 billion euros, 8 billion of which were to be borne by Finland.
Parties in the outgoing government said they would support the bailout for Portugal. Prime Minister Kiviniemi (KESK) underscored the need for the Finnish contribution to the bailout, stating that the debt crisis would have a serious impact on export-driven countries such as Finland.
Opposition parties were more reluctant. The SDP said it would not support the bailout unless the responsibility of banks and investors was recognized. The True Finns, a populist euro-sceptic party, termed the 2011 elections a "referendum on the euro". It said it would oppose the EFSF's loan-capacity increase. Mr. Soini said a key condition for his party to participate in a new government was to scrap the proposed constitutional amendment that made specific mention of Finland as an EU member. The True Finns also argued that social protection should only be offered to Finns and that social benefits for foreign nationals should be reduced.
In all, 67.37 per cent of the 4.4 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
The KOK came in first with 44 seats, followed by the SDP with 42. The True Finns more than quadrupled its share to 39. Prime Minister Kiviniemi's KESK came in fourth with 35 seats. The Left Alliance and the Green League took 14 and 10 seats respectively. The Swedish People's Party and the KD took nine and six seats respectively. A record 85 women were elected, up from 84 in 2007.
President Tarja Halonen (SDP) opened the new parliament on 27 April.
On 17 June, the KOK, the SDP, the Left Alliance, the Swedish People's Party, the Greens and the KD agreed to form a new government under the premiership of KOK leader Katainen.
On 22 June, parliament elected Mr. Katainen as the new Prime Minister. The following day, it elected Mr. Eero Heinäluoma (SDP) as its new Speaker.
Note:
Election day was changed from the third Sunday in March to the third Sunday in April. The amendment aims to boost turnout by holding elections in better weather conditions. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 17 April 2011 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
4'387'701
2'955'865 (67.37%)
16'294
2'939'571 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| National Coalition Party (KOK) |
232 |
599'138 |
|
|
20.40 |
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) |
238 |
561'558 |
|
|
19.10 |
|
|
| True Finns (PS) |
238 |
560'075 |
|
|
19.10 |
|
|
| Center Party (KESK) |
233 |
463'266 |
|
|
15.80 |
|
|
| Left Alliance (Vas) |
236 |
239'039 |
|
|
8.10 |
|
|
| Green League (Vihr) |
228 |
213'172 |
|
|
7.30 |
|
|
| Swedish People's Party (RKP) |
83 |
125'785 |
|
|
4.30 |
|
|
| Christian Democrats (KD) |
191 |
118'453 |
|
|
4.00 |
|
|
| Others |
22 |
11'763 |
|
|
2.00 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/loss |
Number of women |
|
|
| National Coalition Party (KOK) |
44
|
-6 |
15 |
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) |
42
|
-3 |
27 |
|
|
| True Finns (PS) |
39
|
34 |
11 |
|
|
| Center Party (KESK) |
35
|
-16 |
12 |
|
|
| Left Alliance (Vas) |
14
|
-3 |
6 |
|
|
| Green League (Vihr) |
10
|
-5 |
5 |
|
|
| Swedish People's Party (RKP) |
9
|
0 |
5 |
|
|
| Christian Democrats (KD) |
6
|
-1 |
3 |
|
|
| Others |
1
|
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
115
85
42.50%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
Statistics Finland (17.05.2011, 01.07.2011, 05.07.2011)
http://web.eduskunta.fi/Resource.phx/pubman/templates/56.htx?id=4102
http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/evaa/2011/evaa_2011_2011-04-29_tie_001_en.html
http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/evaa/tau_en.html
|
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
