Everything about Green League totally explained
This article refers to the political party, for the university environmental performance table, see The People & Planet Green League
The
Green League (in
Finnish:
Vihreä liitto,
Vihr.; in
Swedish:
Gröna förbundet), is a
green political party in
Finland. The current chairperson is
Tarja Cronberg.
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 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. 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%.
One of the fourteen Finnish representatives in the
European Parliament is Green:
Satu Hassi. Before the
2004 elections there were two:
Heidi Hautala and
Matti Wuori.
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
Tarja Cronberg (Labour) and
Tuija Brax (Justice).
The
Federation of Green Youth and Students is the Green League's youth organisation.
Ideology
Vihreä liitto is no longer a
protest party, nor an
alternative movement. The party has found its political home at the
centre-left with a political agenda based on
green politics. Nevertheless, many Green candidates in the elections reject classification as "left" or "right". Economic opinions of the members range between left and right.
In the party program, the Green League has criticized both the
market economy and
socialism, because Greens think that neither system cares about the
environment,
developing countries or future generations but, instead, concentrates too much on economic growth. Major principles in the party program are environmental protection,
participatory democracy and
social justice.
In the chamber of the
Parliament and assembly rooms of local councils the Greens are standing between the
Centre Party and the
Social Democrats.
Elections results
Parliament elections
| 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% |
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% |
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% |
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.
Politicians
List of party chairs
Current members of parliament
The following 15 Green politicians were elected to the
Finnish Parliament in the
March 2007 parliamentary election. Merikukka Forsius has since defected to the
National Coalition Party.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Green League'.
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