ELECTIONS HELD IN 1995
<<< Return to the Historical Archive page of parliamentary election results for FINLAND <<<
| Chamber: | |
| Eduskunta - Riksdagen | |
|
|
| 19 March 1995 | |
|
|
| Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office. | |
|
|
| The 1995 electoral campaign was dominated by debate on the country’s economy. In truth, since the previous general elections four years earlier, the situation in this sector had deteriorated at an alarming rate, although there was an upturn in the months prior to the poll.
The 1991 outcome had left the Centre Party in power together with its partners the National Coalition Party (KOK), the Christian League and the Swedish People’s Party (SFP). This centre-right coalition Government was led by Prime Minister Esko Aho. The opposition was led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that had ruled since 1962. Both Mr. Aho and SDP leader Paavo Lipponen pledged to ease Finland’s most acute recessionary problems – an unemployment rate of some 19% and a large public debt – through budget cuts. While the SDP proposed considerable reductions in the agricultural subsidy programme, Mr. Aho, whose party depended largely on the support of farmers, opposed these reductions, favouring other cost-saving measures and pointing to the recent successes in this field. Altogether more than 2000 candidates and 18 parties vied for the 200 parliamentary seats. On polling day, the SDP regained its leading legislative position with 63 seats, gaining a total of 15 at the expense of the outgoing governing partners. As a result, Mr. Lipponen was sworn in at the head of a broad-based five-party coalition comprising his party, the conservative KOK, the SFP, the Left-Wing Alliance and the Greens; this new coalition held a total of 145 Eduskunta seats. |
|
STATISTICS
| Round no 1 (19 March 1995): Elections results | |
| Number of registered electors | 4,088,358 |
| Voters | 2,778,203 (67.95%) |
| Round no 1: Distribution of votes | |||
| Political Group | Votes | % | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) | 784,958 | 28.3 | |
| Centre Party (KESK) | 551,614 | 19.9 | |
| National Coalition Party (KOK) | 496,998 | 17.9 | |
| Left-Wing Alliance (VL) | 309,927 | 11.2 | |
| Swedish People’s Party (SFP) | 142,485 | 5.1 | |
| Greens | 180,914 | 6.5 | |
| Finnish Christian League (SKL) | 82,090 | 3.0 | |
| Others | 132,021 | 4.8 | |
| Round no 1: Distribution of seats | |||
| Political Group | Total | Gain/Loss | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP) | 63 | +15 | |
| Centre Party (KESK) | 44 | -11 | |
| National Coalition Party (KOK) | 39 | -1 | |
| Left-Wing Alliance (VL) | 22 | +3 | |
| Swedish People’s Party (SFP) | 12 | = | |
| Greens | 9 | -1 | |
| Finnish Christian League (SKL) | 7 | -1 | |
| Others | 4 | -4 | |
| Distribution of seats according to sex: | |
| Men: | 133 |
| Women: | 67 |
Copyright © 1995 Inter-Parliamentary Union