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4.4.1 The political parties
The Centre (Keskusta, abbr. Kesk) was called Agrarian League
until 1965 and still derives its main support from rural areas
covering most of Finland. Not nearly all the voters have
anything to do with farming, but loyalty to the Centre is
almost a family value in the provinces, particularly the two
northern ones (Oulu and Lapland). The higher voting percentage
of the rural areas is an additional asset. The party has a
strong anti-EU wing, which has close ties with Vapaan Suomen
Liitto (Union of Free Finland), whose sole issue is to
terminate the EU membership. Esko Aho has been chairman of the
Centre since 1990 and Prime Minister since 1991. Other main
politicians include the controversial Paavo Väyrynen, Seppo
Kääriäinen, Olli Rehn, Tytti Isohookana-Asunmaa, Anneli
Jäätteenmäki. The chairman of VSL is the noted troublemaker
Ilkka Hakalehto.
The Social Democrats (SDP) are strongest in Southern industrial
towns, also sharing much of the middle-class and public
employee vote. Party chairman Paavo Lipponen is the new Prime
Minister. Other notable names: Arja Alho, Erkki Tuomioja,
Pertti Paasio, Ulf Sundqvist, Antti Kalliomäki, Lasse Lehtinen,
Kalevi Sorsa. President Martti Ahtisaari, EU commissioner Erkki
Liikanen and many trade union figures come from SDP.
The National Coalition (Kokoomus, abbr. Kok), or Conservatives,
presents itself as the party of entrepreneurs and patriots,
winning 90 per cent shares of vote in army bases. Helsinki and
the other main cities are National Coalition strongholds. While
most of rural Finland is dominated by the green of the Centre,
Eastern Häme is blue for some reason. Chairman Sauli Niinistö
and his minions (Pertti Salolainen, Pekka Kivelä, Ilkka
Suominen, Harri Holkeri) are currently worried about a new
rival, Nuorsuomalaiset (Young Finns - the name harks back to
the days of the Tsar), which appears as a more modern, "cool"
urban alternative. Risto E. J. Penttilä is the champion of the
Young Finns, while the image of the National Coalition is
burdened by the ruthless know-it-all Minister of Finance, Iiro
Viinanen. Riitta Uosukainen is the first-ever Chairwoman of the
Parliament.
The Left-wing Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto, abbr. Vas) is a 1990
attempt to gather together the quarreling Communist movement.
Some splits are still visible both inside and outside of the
party. Much stronger in the North than in the South, the party
gets most of its votes from industrial workers. The eternal
struggle with SDP over trade unions goes on and on. The
chairman is Claes Andersson, psychiatrist and novelist.
The correct translation of Svenska Folkpartiet is not obvious.
In this article "Swedish People's Party" is used, however this
is far from a perfect translation:
"Folkpartiet" means "People's party" and denotes in Finland
like in Scandinavia parties of Liberal, non-Socialist,
character. "Svenska" means that the party intends to represent
the fraction of Finland's citizens with Swedish mother-tongue.
This they do quite well as the Swedish speakers are less than
6% of Finland's population.
The Swedish People's Party (SFP in Swedish, RKP in Finnish)
unites the Swedish-speaking minority of the Southern and
Ostrobothnian coasts, from leftist intellectuals through
farmers and fishermen to nobility. The language issue gives SFP
the stablest electorate of any Finnish party. It manages to
worm its way to most Finnish governments, thus having influence
far greater than its size. One of the 12 mandates is the
representative of Åland Islands, Gunnar Jansson, who
technically is not a member of the party as the islands have a
political system of their own.
The Greens first entered the Parliament in 1983. Their main
concern is the environment (attitudes ranging from moderate to
fanatical) but many counter-culture youths and citizens' rights
activists feel home here as well. Paradoxically, the nature
party thrives mainly in the big cities (the "Neon Greens") as
well as in the Universities.
The Christian League (founded in 1958) owes most of its seats
to skillful electoral alliances which give the party benefit
from votes originally given to other parties. Many of its faces
represent Revivalist movements rather than mainstream
Lutheranism. The chairman is Toimi Kankaanniemi.
SMP, The Finnish Rural Party, (although changing the meaning of
the letters is continually proposed) originated in 1959 as a
rebellious (anti-Kekkonen) fraction of the Agrarian League. The
party's electoral success has been very variable and despite
government participation during the 1980s it never achieved, or
much sought for, respectability, preferring to fish the
populist vote with anti-refugee statements. The current state
of SMP is chaotic, but it has happened before and SMP has risen
like a phoenix from the ashes.
The Liberal Party lost its only MP, the party's chairwoman
Tuulikki Ukkola, in the elections. LKP has a history of power
despite its small size, but is facing extinction and is
hysterical about the threat of the Young Finns.
The ultra green Ecological Party got one MP, one of the
surprises of the elections.
There are a dozen registered parties outside the Parliament.
The law states that a party which twice consecutively fails to
enter the Parliament must be dissolved, but usually they
re-arrange themselves with the collection of another 5,000
signatures. Among them are three pensioners' parties (the least
of them called Party of Shared Responsibility of Pension
Receivers and Greens), the Women's Party and the Natural Law
Party which aims to heal the Finnish economy by the means of
yoga flying. The status of bad old IKL (the main Fascist party,
banned in 1944) is somewhat unclear at the moment.
4.4.2 The 1995 general elections
The Finnish parliament is unicameral, elected by citizens over
18 every fourth March (to commemorate the opening of the
Estates' Diet by Tsar Alexander I in March 1809). The
President, with the consent of the Prime Minister, can dissolve
the Parliament and call for new elections. This last occurred
in 1975. In the election of March 1995 the 200 seats went as
follows:
Party % of votes Seats (change from -91)
Social Democrats 28.3 63 (+15)
Centre Party 19.9 44 (-11)
National Coalition (cons.) 17.9 39 (-1)
Left-wing Alliance (comm.) 11.2 22 (+3)
Greens 6.5 9 (-1)
Swedish People's Party 5.1 11 (0)
Christian League 3.0 7 (-1)
Young Finns 2.8 2 (+2)
Rural Party 1.3 1 (-6)
Ecological Party 0.3 1 (+1)
Åland representative 1
Voting percentage: 71.8
Of the new MP's 143 are men and 67 women. The parliament
elected in 1991 had 77 women out of the total 200 MP's (a world
record in its time), and as many women's organizations had set
the goal as 101 women MP's to be elected, the result was
clearly a disappointment and one of the most surprising
elements of the elections.
The Social Democrats got a great victory as a result of their
being in the opposition in the last government. Centre party,
the leading party of the previous government, was the greatest
loser of the elections, probably because the party's split-up
in the question of EU-membership. The National Coalition, the
other major party in the government, was among the losers but
was much less affected by government responsibility than the
Centre. The gallups lied to the Greens once again and for the
first time since its formation the party stopped growing. Young
Finns got their first seats, not as many as they expected but
it's a start. The Rural Party was one of the biggest losers of
the elections; a once significant populist party, it has waned
away almost completely and may soon disappear entirely from the
Finnish political chart as it is currently in deep economical
problems. The little known Ecological Party got its sole seat
because of its candidate Pertti "Veltto" ("Slack") Virtanen, a
well-known eccentric rock musician and psychologist, who was
also a candidate in the presidential elections (and did
surprisingly well).
As Mrs. Speaker of the Parliament Riitta Uosukainen (Cons.)
continued.
4.4.3 The rainbow cabinet
The new cabinet appointed by president Ahtisaari is nicknamed
"Rainbow cabinet" as it includes 7 Social Democrats, 5
Conservatives, 2 (ex-)Communists, 2 ethnic Swedes, one Green
and one independent minister. The only major party left out is
the Centre, which dominates rural Finland. Cuts in agricultural
subsidies are expected. The notion of Conservatives and
Communists in the same cabinet is unheard before, as is the
presence of the Green (party chairman Pekka Haavisto, who lost
his seat in the Parliament), as Minister of Environment. 11 men
and 7 women.
Prime Minister: Paavo Lipponen (born 1941). The slow-speaking,
197cm tall chairman of the Social Democratic Party was the
first Finnish politician to suggest EC membership, at a time
when it was highly unrealistic and potentially career-damaging
(anti-Soviet).
Foreign Minister: Tarja Halonen (SocDem). A surprise choice.
Red hair and onetime Minister of Justice is all I can remember.
Unless I'm mistaken, our first female Foreign Minister.
Minister of the Treasury: Iiro Viinanen (Cons.) The most hated
member of the former cabinet continues to persecute women,
children and the trade unions. He has also gained much respect
among some people, which shows e.g in that he got one of the
biggest shares of votes in the parliamentary elections of all
candidates.
Second Minister of Treasury: Arja Alho, a Social Democrat from
Helsinki with an independent mind.
Minister of Trade and Commerce: Antti Kalliomäki, vice-chairman
of the Social Democratic Party. A gray bore and former athlete.
Minister of Interior Affairs (such as the Police): Jouni
Backman (SocDem). A totalitarian character. 2nd minister
Jan-Erik Enestam (Swedish People's Party), a municipal leader
from Västanfjärd.
Minister of Labour: Liisa Jaakonsaari (SocDem, from Oulu).
Faces a huge task of reducing the record-high unemployment.
Good luck!
Minister of Justice: Sauli Niinistö, Chairman of the
Conservatives. Lost his wife in a car accident earlier this
year.
Minister of Defence: Anneli Taina (Cons.) Apparently they
decided to make this a permanent women's job.
Minister of Traffic: Tuula Linnainmaa (Cons.) A nobody.
Minister of Education: the 30-year old Conservative Olli-Pekka
Heinonen continues.
Minister of Social and Health Issues: Sinikka Mönkäre (SocDem)
and Terttu Huttu (Comm.), a newcomer from Suomussalmi.
Minister of European Affairs: Ole Norrback, the Ostrobothnian
chairman of the Swedish People's Party and just about our most
provincial politician.
Minister of Culture: Claes Andersson, Comm. Chairman, poet,
jazz pianist, ex-football player, psychiatrist and father of
six or more. It's not often that we see a Minister of Culture
who actually understands something about culture.
[ the sections above are available at the www-page
http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq44.html ]
------------------------------
Subject: 4.5 Main tourist attractions
4.5.1 Helsinki
Helsinki (Swedish: Helsingfors) is the capital and largest city
of Finland. It is in the southern coast of the country on the
Gulf of Finland and occupies the tip of a small peninsula. The
"towns" of Vantaa and Espoo are effectively suburbs of
Helsinki, and together with Kaunianen, form the metropolitan
where ca. 1 million people or nearly 20% if Finland's
population live.
The city is protected from the sea by a fringe of islands, so
that its harbor is almost landlocked. It is underlain by hard
rock, which shows in rounded masses, smothered and polished by
ice sheets. Hollows in this surface are occupied by lakes or
the sea, although some have been filled with urban waste to
create new land. Summers in Helsinki are rather mild, with an
average temperature of 18C in July; winters are pretty long and
cold, January temperatures averaging -6°C. A belt of sea ice
forms close to the coast during the winter months,but a passage
is usually kept open by icebreakers.
Helsinki was founded in 1550 by King Gustav Vasa to compete
with the Hansaetic city of Tallinn in Estonia, some 50km south
across the Gulf of Finland, and merchants from several smaller
towns were ordered by force to move to Helsinki. It didn't
start out well, however; many of the merchants moved back to
their own towns, the place of the town had to be moved a couple
of times to more suitable locations, fires and war destroyed
the town several times, and plague killed most of the
ihabitants. For over two hundred years, Helsinki was little
more than a fishing village, but things started to improve when
the construction of the huge fortress of Sveaborg started in
1748 on the islands just outside Helsinki and brought tens of
thousands of soldiers, builders, officers, etc. to Helsinki.
In 1809 Sveaborg (the modern Finnish name is Suomenlinna)
surrendered almost without a shot to a Russian army that was
much smaller than the Swedish-Finnish garrison, and Finland
became an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia. Helsinki was made
capital in 1812, the university (founded 1640) was moved there
from Turku in 1827, and the modern growth of the city started.
The war had destroyed much of the old Helsinki, and the central
city was rebuilt according to the plans of the German-born
architect C.L.Engel in grand imperial scale to show the power
of the Russian Empire. The city was bombed during the World War
II, but not as badly as it might have because of the ingenious
air raid defense (for example, a fake Helsinki was built next
to the real one and set on fire to fool the Russian bombers).
The Helsinki accords was the "declaration of policy intent"
signed in Helsinki in 1975, by the United States, Canada, the
USSR, and 32 European countries at the end of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (1973-75). The accords
declared inviolable the frontiers of all the signatory nations,
provided for scientific, technological, and cultural exchanges,
and pledged the signatories to respect human rights, including
"freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief."
The most important sights in Helsinki include the following:
+ The Senate Square, in the very centre of Helsinki, is one of
the most beautiful neo-classical squares in Europe. On one
side of the square is situated the Senate palace, and on the
other, the maiun building of Helsinki University; above them
rises the Helsinki Cathedral (all are designed by C.L.Engel),
and in the centre of the square is a statue of Emperor
Alexander II. The university library is next to the main
building of the university is considered to be perhaps
Engel's finest work, especially the intererior is beautiful.
Slightly "hidden" behind the square is the old House of the
Estates, a fine piece of exuberant neo-renaissance
architecture with golden decorations. Ateneum Art Museum
located in the Rautatientori square nearby has the best
collection of fine arts in Finland; mostly Finnish painters
and some foreign masters of turn of the century (the rest of
the somewhat modest collection of foreign art is housed in
the Sinebrychoff museum on Bulevardi street); on the same
square is the railway station, designed by Eliel Saarinen,
which is a large and innovative Art Nouveau building (the
main entrance looks a bit like an old radio set).
+ The Market Square, in the South Harbour, is a lively
year-round market in beautiful surroundings. Beside the
square is the fountain of Havis Amanda, the symbol of
Helsinki. The Esplanade, a park avenue lined with shops and
cafes starts from the fountain; at it's other end is the
Swedish Theatre and the Stockmann department store, reputedly
the largest in Scandinavia, and certainly the best one in
Helsinki. A part of the Stockmann, although located in a
separate building next to it, is the Academic Bookstore which
is a must for every bookhoarder. They have a large selection
of books in English, as well as several other major
languages. For slightly cheaper shopping, you could take the
subway to the Itäkeskus -station (East Centre). The station
is right next to a huge suburban mall.
+ On the other end of the Market Square rises the golden,
onion-shaped cupola of the Uspensky Cathedral, representing
the other major religion in Finland, Greek Orthodoxy. Ferries
leave from the square to the 18th century island fortress of
Suomenlinna (Sveaborg), once called "the Gibraltar of the
North" (but unlike Gibraltar, never had much military
significance), located just outside the harbour; it's a
beautiful place for picnics and just strolling around.
There's also a centre for Scandinavian art in one of the old
barracks, and a museum dedicated to the man behind Sveaborg's
building, Augustin Ehrensvärd. The fortress is included in
the UNESCO list of world heritage. Tickets to the ferries
cost only about 10 FIM. There are also ferries to Korkeasaari
Zoo, also located in a nearby island. Another good place for
picnics is the Kaivopuisto park, where free pop-concerts are
held in summer.
+ Going down the Mannerheimintie (Mannerheim street), which
starts from the other end of the Esplanade, you'll pass the
following places of interest: the parliament, which is a
massive granite building that dates from the 1930's (and,
frankly, looks like something that Albert Speer might have
designed..). The Finlandia-house, by Finland's most famous
architect Alvar Aalto, built of white marble, where the
Helsinki accords were signed (it's also the home of e.g the
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra). The Italian Carrara-marble
plates haven't quite stood the test of Finnish weather, so it
might be a good idea to wear a helmet in case of falling
marble. :) The National Museum built in Art Nouveau style
displays objects from different periods of Finnish history.
The collection is relatively interesting, but displayed in a
somewhat conservative way. Also, the museum is far too small
for it's purpose. The National Opera is the next building on
the line, it's a piece of modern architecture finished in
1993, more beautiful from the inside than the outside; and
finally, the Olympic Stadium, where the 1952 Olympics were
held.
+ You might also want to check the Temppeliaukio church in the
district of Töölö, which is carved into a low hill of granite
rock and covered by a copper dome (architect Reima Pietilä).
Take a look from above, some of the staircases of the houses
next to it for example; it looks like a landed UFO.
Seurasaari island has an open-air museum of traditional
Finnish wooden houses, not quite as good as Skansen in
Stockholm or Bygdøy in Oslo, but if you're interested in folk
culture it's certainly worth checking out. Linnanmäki
amusement park is the largest in Finland; it differs in no
way from your average large amusement park, but might still
be a nice place to spend a day, especially if you're
travelling with children. Heureka Science Center in the
suburb of Vantaa is another good place to spend time with
children; it popularizes science, lets you do all sorts of
experiments of your own, and has a globular movie theatre.
You can get there by local train or a special bus line
leaving from Rautatientori. Ainola, home of the composer Jean
Sibelius, is located in Järvenpää not far from Helsinki.
+ Internet addicts visiting the city can cure their withdrawal
symptoms at the CompuCafe at Annankatu 22 in the center of
the city. Free net access is also provided by an increasing
number of public libraries, for instance the Kirjakaapeli
library in the Kaapelitehdas (Cable Factory) culture center
in western Helsinki. The place is well worth a visit on its
own right. It's a huge old factory building where cables used
to be made (hence the name), which after the closing of the
factory was spontaneously taken over by various artists,
workshops, clubs, etc., and after a brief wrestle with the
city authorities and the company owning the building, it was
turned in its entirety into a culture complex. It now houses,
in addition to the library, cafes, galleries, several
museums, repetition rooms for rock bands, classical
orchestras, martial arts clubs, theatre groups, etc, and its
a site for all sorts of cultural happenings. Getting there is
easiest by taking the subway to the Ruoholahti station.
For more information on Helsinki, you may wish to check these
URLs:
A clicable map of Helsinki WWW-resources:
Tampere (in Swedish Tammerfors) lies about 160 km northwest of
Helsinki. A major manufacturing hub and the textile center of
Finland, Tampere also produces metals, heavy machinery, pulp,
and paper, etc. The heavy concentration of industry has
prompted some to call it Finland's Manchester (the center, with
several rather attractive old factory buildings, looks pretty
industrial, too).
Just currently some old factories, such as Finlayson and
Tampella, and their wide factory areas in the centre of the
city are being renovated and partly rebuilt, but still in an
attempt to maintain the architectural general appearance.
Tampere was founded in 1779 and is the largest inland city in
Scandinavia. The location between two lakes, Näsijärvi and
Pyhäjärvi, and the rapids (Tammerkoski) joining the lakes gave
birth to the industry in the city. The cathedral by Lars Sonck
is a masterpiece of Finnish national-romantic Art Nouveau; it's
frescoes by the symbolist painter Hugo Simberg are especially
fascinating. Lake tours, "Hopealinja" (Silver Line) in
Pyhäjärvi and "Runoilijan tie" (Poet's Way) in Näsijärvi, are
popular in the summer. A gravel ridge, Pispalan harju, and the
settlement there is also a major tourist attraction. Tampere
has two theatres (TT and TTT) and a summer theatre with a
revolving auditorium. The Särkänniemi amusement park is very
popular in the summer. The new Tampere Hall is currently the
second most popular place in Finland (after Finlandia House in
Helsinki) for international congresses, large special events
and exhibitions.
One of the gastronomic delicacies typical for Tampere is black
sausage ("mustamakkara") which is made of blood, though not
nearly all regard it as a delicacy.
Other tips:
+ Main shopping street Hämeenkatu
+ "Koskikeskus" shopping center by the rapids
+ Pyynikki natural park only two kilometres west from downtown
+ A 20 min ferry trip to Viikinsaari island
For more information on Tampere:
A clicable map of Tampere WWW-resources:
4.5.4 Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä was where Alvar Aalto began his career as an
architect; from 1920's up until our days, dozens of buildings
designed by him have been built in and around Jyvaskyla, thus
making the city famous for its architecture.
Jyväskylä in the area of Finnish language culture it has a
remarkable succession of "firsts": the first Finnish-language
lyceum, the first school for the girls, the first teachers'
training college (the seminary) the first national song and
instrument festivals, the first society for the advancement of
public education, the first "summer university", and the first
arts festival.
4.5.5 Porvoo
Porvoo (Swedish: Borgå) on the coast of the Gulf of Finland
received its town rights in 1346. The town lies 48 km northeast
of Helsinki, along the Porvoonjoki River. It's a rather small
town with only 30,000 or so inhabitants, but it's rather
attractive and the (mostly wooden) Old Town still has a rather
medieval character. Building of the the cathedral in the center
of the Old Town was finished 1414-18, and the Diet of Porvoo
where Finland was granted its autonomous status as a Grand
Duchy was held there in 1809 by emperor Alexander I. The house
of Porvoo Gymnasium, built 1760, is on the cathedral square.
The town hall was built in 1764 and now houses a historical
museum; the art collection of the museum is in the Holm house
(1762), included are works by two great artists of the golden
age of Finnish art who were born in Porvoo, the painter Albert
Edelfelt (1854-1940) and the sculptor Ville Valgren
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