Green League
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| Green League | |
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| Name in Finnish | Vihreät |
| Name in Swedish | De Gröna |
| Leader | Anni Sinnemäki |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Fredrikinkatu 33 A, 3rd floor FI-00120 HELSINKI |
| Political Ideology | Green politics |
| Political Position | Centre-left |
| European Affiliation | European Greens - European Free Alliance |
| European Parliament Group | |
| International Affiliation | Global Greens |
| Colours | Green |
| Website | www.greens.fi |
| See also | Finnish Politics Finnish Parliament |
| Part of the Politics series on |
| Green politics |
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Core topics
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 Environment PortalPolitics portal |
- This article refers to the political party, for the university environmental performance table, see The People & Planet Green League
The Green League (in Finnish: Vihreät, Vihr.; in Swedish: Gröna Förbundet), is a green political party in Finland. The current chairperson is Anni Sinnemäki.
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[edit] History
The party was founded February 28, 1987, and registered as a political party the next year. Political activity had begun already in the early 1980s, when environmental activists, feminists and other active groups began to campaign on Green issues in Finland. In 1995 it was the first European Green party to be part of a state-level Cabinet.
The party was founded as a popular movement, and thus retains the descriptor liitto, "league". Initially, there was much resistance within the movement against the founding of a political party, motivated by Robert Michels' iron law of oligarchy, which claims that movements inevitably degenerate into oligarchies when they create a formal organization.[1] The party still especially stresses openness and democratic decision-making. The liitto was later dropped from the Finnish and Swedish names in advertisements; the official name remains.
The first two parliamentary representatives were elected even before the registration, in the elections of 1983. These were the first independent representatives in the Finnish parliament. In 1987 the number of seats rose to four, and in 1991 to ten.
About half of Green were against joining the European Union in 1994. Later, polls showed that most Greens were anti-Eurozone.[2] The party heads declined to fight against euro adoption.
In the 1995 election the Green League received a total of nine seats (out of 200), joined the coalition-cabinet led by the Social Democrats, and Pekka Haavisto became the minister of Environment and Development Aid, thus becoming the first green minister in Europe. The Green League received 7.3% of the vote, and gained two additional seats in 1999, raising the total to 11. The Greens continued in the next coalition-cabinet, but resigned in protest on May 26, 2002, after the cabinet's decision to allow the construction of a new nuclear plant was accepted in the parliament. In 2003 the Green League received 8.0% of the vote, giving a total of 14 seats. They increased their seats to 15 in 2007 when they received 8.5%.
As of the 2009 elections, two of the thirteen Finnish representatives in the European Parliament are Green: Satu Hassi and Heidi Hautala.
At the local level, Greens are an important factor in the largest cities of Finland. In the local election of 2000 the Greens had 7.7% of the vote. In Helsinki (the capital) the Greens became the 2nd largest party with 23.5% of the vote. In several other cities the Greens achieved the position of the 3rd largest party. Its weak spot is the rural countryside, particularly municipalities experiencing strong outward migration.
The Green League is one of four parties forming the Finnish Government since April 2007. Its ministers are Anni Sinnemäki (Labour) and Tuija Brax (Justice).
The Federation of Green Youth and Students is the Green League's youth organisation.
[edit] Ideology
Vihreät is no longer a protest party, nor an alternative movement. Some Green candidates in the elections reject classification as "left" or "right". Economic opinions of the members range between left and right.[1] However, on average members of party place their party between the Left Alliance and Social Democrats.[3]
In the party program, the Green League has criticized both the market economy and socialism.[citation needed] In the chamber of the Parliament and assembly rooms of local councils the Greens are standing between the Centre Party and the Social Democrats.
[edit] Elections results
[edit] Parliament elections
0 % 0–2 % 2–4 % 4–6 % 6–8 % 8–10 % 10–12 % 12–14 % 14– %
| Year | MPs | Votes | Share of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 2 | 43 754 | 1,47% |
| 1987 | 4 | 115 988 | 4,03% |
| 1991 | 10 | 185 894 | 6,82% |
| 1995 | 9 | 181 198 | 6,52% |
| 1999 | 11 | 194 846 | 7,27% |
| 2003 | 14 | 223 846 | 8,01% |
| 2007 | 15 | 233 930 | 8,5% |
[edit] Local council elections
| Year | Councillors | Votes | Share of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 101 | 76 441 | 2,8% |
| 1988 | 94 | 61 581 | 2,34% |
| 1992 | 343 | 184 787 | 6,9% |
| 1996 | 292 | 149 334 | 6,3% |
| 2000 | 338 | 171 707 | 7,7% |
| 2004 | 313 | 175 933 | 7,4% |
| 2008 | 370 | 227 809 | 8,9% |
[edit] European parliament elections
| Year | MEPs | Votes | Share of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1 | 170 670 | 7,6% |
| 1999 | 2 | 166 786 | 13,4% |
| 2004 | 1 | 172 786 | 10,4% |
| 2009 | 2 | 206 167 | 12,4% |
[edit] Presidential elections
Parliamentarian and former MEP Heidi Hautala was a candidate in the presidential elections in 2000 and 2006, taking approximately a 3,5% share of votes in the first round.
[edit] Politicians
[edit] List of party chairs
- Kalle Könkkölä (1987)
- Heidi Hautala (1987–1991)
- Pekka Sauri (1991–1993)
- Pekka Haavisto (1993–1995)
- Tuija Brax (1995 –1997)
- Satu Hassi (1997–2001)
- Osmo Soininvaara (2001–2005)
- Tarja Cronberg (2005–2009)
- Anni Sinnemäki (2009–)
[edit] Current members of parliament
The following 14 Green politicians were elected to the Finnish Parliament in the March 2007 parliamentary election, in addition to Merikukka Forsius, who has since defected to the National Coalition Party.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Rauli Mickelsson. Suomen puolueet - Historia, muutos ja nykypäivä. Vastapaino 2007, 429 pages.
- ^ 4.2 Suomi Euroopan Unionissa
- ^ Elo, Kimmo – Rapeli, Lauri (2008): Suomalaisten politiikkatietämys. Oikeusministeriön julkaisuja 2008:6.
[edit] External links
- Official site (Finnish)
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