Current Political Situation in Finland – CPF´s perspective

European Left Executive Board Meeting in Athens Greece
31.10-2.11.2014
JP (Juha-Pekka) Väisänen, chairman of the CPF
Iida Ylönen, member of the Central Committee of the CPF and EL Cultural Working Group

Finnish economy has had no growth in last seven years but still the government is not giving up with the politics of the never ending cutting lists. For second year around budget proposal again mean cuttings with some 200 million euros.

The unemployment is increasing and austerity measures are strongly hitting the public sector and basic services. Center party (keskusta) and the Party of the True Finns (perussuomalaiset) have as their proposal for budget demanded for even bigger cuttings for the public sector.

There is a radical reform plan to change social and healthcare system in Finland. All parties present in the parliament stand behind this highly undemocratic reform that will concentrate all social and healthcare services into five big sectors. Creation of bigger units will favor privatization of the public services. Many specialists have started to oppose the reform because of its anti-constitutional character. In its function along with the possible TTIP agreement the social and healthcare reform would carry along with many risks. Multinational healthcare companies due to the reform could more easily start demand access to the Finnish markets. Communist Party of Finland has proposed an alternative for the reform. CPF alternative stands for local participatory democracy, safeguarding all the basic services as local services and CPF proposes creation of a county government (maakuntahallinto).

In Finland there have been some progressive steps made in the fight against the TTIP- treaty. After last TTIP-action day in October the bourgeois media first time informed about the criticism towards the TTIP-treaty plans. CPF has presented its support to the mass movements demand and has worked on spreading the activism along the whole country. CPF has encouraged its members also to take part in the unofficial people´s initiative and collect names against the TTIP-treaty.

The Ukrainian crises have increased pro NATO membership propaganda. Current situation is setting new challenges for the peace work and anti-militarization campaigns. It is encouraging that on the traditional date 24.10 (UN week for Peace and Disarmament) a new collaboration of peace activists and environmental activists took place in Helsinki and managed to bring together a good number of participants and get some media coverage too.

Last September in Wales Nato Summit Finland signed the Host Nation Agreement with NATO. Also a group of specialists pointed by the government has proposed increasing of the military budget. National defense forces have granted a budget of several billion euros for new weapon purchases. At the moment there is also a big discussions going on about Hornet air fighters to be replaced with new military fighters until the end of 2010.

After a loss in the EU-elections and change of the party chairman, party of the Social Democrats (SDP) is still in a situation of still stand. SDP members are waiting for a new political guidelines and a greater success but adopting the guidelines and neoliberal logics of the government and the National Coalition Party (kokoomus) is destroying SDP´s credibility.

National Coalition Party (kokoomus) has made a new step towards an even more visible right wing politics. Coalition Party has been a lot in the topics because of “dirty play” with naming party members in different workplaces in public offices. Newly elected prime minister and the chair of the Coalition Party Alexander Stubb has also strongly been criticized in the media.

In this current political situation Communist Party of Finland is heading upcoming elections as a challenger with the idea of unifying radical red and green forces. For CPF´s disappointment Party of the Left Alliance has decided not to have any collaboration in the upcoming elections with CPF. CPF has proposed the Party of the Left Alliance collaboration in general and in the Parliamentary elections but so far there has not been any official response.

Communist party of Finland will take part in the National Parliamentary elections probably April 2015 (if not before) with its own electoral lists constructing its electoral program in open discussions around the country. This “Red Table´s Tour” together with not party members will lift up in discussion important big issues about future political direction and make the demand of alternatives even stronger.

In the current Finnish political situation and the strong right wing hegemony CPF finds the aim of unifying all progressive, radical leftist and communist forces under a united struggle as one of its most important tasks.

CPF