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This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in Finland. It is limited to liberal and centrist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Liberalism was a major force in Finland since 1894. After independence the current gradually decreased. A major other force, agrarianism, choose in 1965 to develop itself into a more centrist current. The liberal character of the Finnish Center (Suomen Keskusta), member of LI and ELDR, is based on liberal ideas like decentralization, peasant-like freedom and progressivism.^[1] The Swedish minority party Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland) is also a member of LI, ELDR. The original liberal current is now organized in the Liberals (Liberaalit), a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous island of Åland the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland) are a dominant force.

The timeline[edit]

Liberal Club / Liberal Party[edit]

• 1877: Liberals formed the Liberal Club (Liberaalinen Klubi), renamed in 1880 Liberal Party (Liberaalinen Puolue)^[2]
• 1882: The Liberal Party disappeared

From Young Finnish Party to Liberals[edit]

• 1894: Constitutionalist fennomans organized into the Young Finnish faction within the Finnish Party (Nuorsuomalainen Puolue)
• 1905: The Young Finnish Party secedes from the Finnish Party.
• 1918: The Republican factions of the two Finnish parties reorganise into the Progressive Party (Kansallinen Edistyspuolue)
• 1951: The Progressive Party falls apart into the Finnish People's Party (Suomen Kansanpuolue) and the ⇒ Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten liitto)
• 1965: The People's Party and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunite into the Liberal People's Party (Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue)
• 1982: The Liberal People's Party associated itself with the ⇒ Centre Party, whilst some liberal youth activists join the Greens.
• 1983: The Liberal People's Party loses all of seats in the Parliament for the first time.
• 1986: The Liberal People's Party disassociated itself from the ⇒ Centre Party
• 1991: The Liberal People's Party returns to parliament with one MP.
• 1995: The Liberal People's Party loses its only MP.
• 2000: The Liberal People's Party renames itself Liberals (Liberaalit)
• 2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections

Swedish People's Party[edit]

• 1906: Liberal svekomans formed the present-day Swedish People's Party in Finland (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland)
• 1919: Republicans formed the Liberal Swedish Party (Svensk Vänster)
• 1951: Liberal Swedish Party merged with SFP

People's Party[edit]

• 1917: Progressive liberals formed the People's Party (Kansanpuolue)
• 1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party

Free-minded League[edit]

• 1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten Liitto) is formed
• 1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's Party

Centre Party / Finnish Centre[edit]

Centrists

• 1965: The agrarian Agrarian League (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the Centre Party (Keskustapuolue).
• 1988: The Centre Party is renamed Finnish Centre (Suomen Keskusta)

Åland[edit]

Liberals for Åland[edit]

• 1967: Liberals organised itself into the Centrist Liberals (Mittenliberalerna)
• 1971: The Centrist Liberals are renamed Electoral Union Liberal Assembly (Valforbundet Liberal Samling)
• 1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland)

Centre Party[edit]

• 1967: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union (Landsbygdens och Skargardens Valforbund) was founded
• 1975: The LoS–Liberals (LoS–Liberalerna) seceded from the Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union
• 1976: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union is renamed Åland Centre (Åländska Centern)
• 1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the ⇒ Liberals for Åland

Liberal and centrist leaders[edit]

• Kansallinen Edistyspuolue: Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
• Maalaisliitto/Keskustapuolue: Urho Kekkonen
• Keskusta: Esko Aho - Anneli Jäätteenmäki - Matti Vanhanen - Mari Kiviniemi - Juha Sipilä
• Svenska Folkpartiet: Ole Norrback - Jan-Erik Enestam - Stefan Wallin - Carl Haglund

Liberal thinkers[edit]

In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Finnish thinker is included:

• Santeri Alkio (Finland, 1862-1930)
• Anders Chydenius (Finland, 1729-1803)

See also[edit]

• History of Finland
• Politics of Finland
• List of political parties in Finland

References[edit]