bisnesjulkaisussa arvio poliittisista muutoksista

[hattiwatti]

Vientiteollisuuden edistämislafka goodnewsfinland on tehnyt jonkun analyysin liike-elämän tulevista haasteista persujen mahdollisen vaalivoiton kannalta. Ei poliitikkojen voitelu hoituisi enää niin kuin ennen.

http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/themes/parliamentary-elections-in-finland/fragmentation-may-increase/

Finland's party system differs compared to those in Europe. Its distinctive features include the fragmented nature of the system, coalition governments and the good predictability of election results. But will this familiar system continue after the election in April?

Since the end of the 1980s, Finland's party system has been the most stable compared with the rest of Europe.

— It is extremely exceptional that the number of votes received by the parties only varies by two to three per cent from once election to the next, says Professor Tapio Raunio from the Department of Political Science at the University of Tampere.

Raunio believes that countries outside of Finland have not been interested in Finnish elections because of the stability and predictability.

— The world has got used to the fact that in Finland nothing especially changes. What has perhaps been of most excitement is which of the three major parties, the National Coalition Party, Centre Party or SDP, will get the most votes at the election.

Unusually fragmented

According to Raunio, the fragmented nature of the Finnish party system is also exceptional.

— It's unusual at the European level that the country's party system has three major parties, each of which gets around 20–25 per cent of the votes. Party systems in Europe are more centralised than in Finland through their division into the right and the left. The Centre Party's strong role, which occupies the ground in between the right and the left, is typical in Finland, Raunio continues.

The professor of political science is waiting for the April election with interest.

— After the election, there may be four major parties in Finland instead of three. If the polls are correct and the True Finns take votes from the major parties, the party spectrum will become even more fragmented.

The EU a major issue

The party systems of the Nordic countries, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, are fairly close to each other, although there are some differences between them. For example, the left is weaker in Finland but cooperation between the parties is clearly stronger than in other Nordic countries. The most common government coalitions have been between the SDP and Centre Party and the SDP and Coalition Party.

European integration has increased the ideological homogeneity of parties across the board.

— Integration has also taken place in the Finnish system because multi-party governments have to make a lot of compromises in integration policy.

According to Raunio, the impact of the European Union on the party system can be seen now more than ever in the general election.

— EU issues are featuring in the election for the first time because of the debate that has arisen over the situation in Greece. This has benefited the opposition parties as well as the True Finns.