1979 Finnish parliamentary election

General election Finland state parliamentary 1975 Finnish parliamentary election 1975 1983 Finnish parliamentary election 1983 All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 18–19 March 1979 Ministeri Kalevi Sorsa (cropped).jpg Kalevi Sorsa Social Democratic Party of Finland 24.86%, 54 seats 52 691,512 23.89% 2 0.97pp Harri-Holkeri-1981 (cropped).jpg Harri Holkeri National Coalition Party 18.37%, 35 seats 47 626,764 21.65% 12 3.28pp JohannesVirolainen1975 (cropped).jpg Johannes Virolainen Centre Party (Finland) 17.63%, 39 seats 36 500,478 17.29% 3 0.34pp Ele Alenius 1980 (cropped).jpg Ele Alenius SKDL 18.89%, 40 seats 35 518,045 17.90% 5 0.99pp Raino-Westerholm-1977 (cropped).jpg Raino Westerholm Finnish Christian League 3.29%, 9 seats 9 138,244 4.78% 1.49pp Ulkoministeri Pär Stenbäck (cropped).jpg Pär Stenbäck Swedish People's Party of Finland 4.66%, 9 seats 9 122,418 4.23% 0.43pp Veikkovennamo1988 (cropped).jpg Veikko Vennamo Finnish Rural Party 3.59%, 2 seats 7 5 132,457 4.58% 0.99pp Jaakko-Itala-1971 (cropped).jpg Jaakko Itälä Liberal People's 4.35%, 9 seats 4 5 106,560 3.68% 0.67pp Kalevi Sorsa Prime Minister Social Democratic Party of Finland Prime Minister after election Mauno Koivisto Social Democratic Party of Finland Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 18 and 19 March 1979.Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 Background Prime Minister Martti Miettunen's centrist minority government (Centre Party, Swedish People's Party and Liberal Party) resigned in May 1977, and Social Democrat Kalevi Sorsa returned to office as Prime Minister after having served two years earlier. He formed a centre-left majority government, which stimulated the economy by deficit spending, tax cuts to businesses and some public works projects. The economy started to grow again in 1978, after a two-year recession; unemployment peaked at 8.5% (about 200,000 unemployed) in 1978 and inflation remained high. Results File:1979 Eduskunta.svg Social Democratic Party 691512 52 −2 National Coalition Party 626764 47 +12 Finnish People's Democratic League 518045 35 −5 Centre Party 500478 36 −3 Finnish Christian League 138244 9 0 Finnish Rural Party 132457 7 +5 Swedish People's Party 122418 9 0 Liberal People's Party 106560 4 −5 Constitutional People's Party 34958 0 −1 Finnish People's Unity Party 9316 0 −1 Åland Coalition 9286 1 0 Socialist Workers Party 2955 0 0 Party of Finnish Entrepreneurs 1233 0 0 Others 220 0 – 11620 0 3858553 Tilastokeskus 2004595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004) By electoral district Electoral districtTotalseatsSeats wonSDPKokKeskSKDLSKLRKPSMPLKPÅSÅland11Central Finland1032221Häme1555221Helsinki20673121Kymi15633111Lapland81133North Karelia721211North Savo1122421Oulu17226511Pirkanmaa1344131Satakunta13332311South Savo932211Uusimaa268724131Vaasa183352131Varsinais-Suomi174523111Total2005247363599741Source: Statistics FinlandSuomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:35: Valtiolliset vaalit 1979 - Kansanedustajain vaalit Statistics Finland 1979 Aftermath thumb|1979 Election ads in Jyväskylä The National Coalition Party had conducted a vigorous election campaign, demanding to be allowed to re-join the government after thirteen years in the opposition. They reaped the benefits of this campaign, and of the usual decrease of long-time governing parties' support, by picking up twelve seats and becoming the second-largest party. Their leader, Harri Holkeri, negotiated with the various parliamentary parties and concluded in April 1979 that no stable majority centre-right government could be formed, because the traditional bourgeois parties (the Centre Party, the National Coalition Party, the Swedish People's Party and the Liberal People's Party) considered the Finnish Christian League and Finnish Rural Party too ideologically extreme or old-fashioned to become reliable coalition partners. Holkeri declined to form a government, but Sorsa refused to continue as Prime Minister, due to the unpopularity that he had suffered amid the recession's lingering effects, his role in the establishment of the soon-to-be-bankrupt television cathode-ray tube factory Valco, his alleged belittling of family violence in a television interview, and his health problems (back pain). Trade and Industry Minister Pirkko Työläjärvi refused President Urho Kekkonen's offer to become Prime Minister, because she claimed to be unprepared for such a large task. Kekkonen finally turned to Governor of the Bank of Finland Mauno Koivisto of the Social Democrats, who managed to form a centre-left majority government in late May 1979. The veteran Centrist politician Johannes Virolainen claimed in his memoirs that Kekkonen had appointed Koivisto as Prime Minister on the advice of former Prime Minister Miettunen, who claimed that the Finnish people would then see that Koivisto was not as intelligent as they had believed him to be. Kekkonen's official biographer, historian Juhani Suomi, disagreed, and claimed that Koivisto was Kekkonen's last remaining choice as Prime Minister – unless Kekkonen had intended to appoint a caretaker government. Koivisto's second – and final – government would last, despite frequent internal disagreements (their background was Kekkonen's imminent resignation as President and Koivisto's supreme popularity as his successor), until February 1982.Seppo Zetterberg et al (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History, WSOYJuhani Suomi (2000) A Ski Trail Being Snowed In: Urho Kekkonen 1976–1981, OtavaJohannes Virolainen (1991) The Last Electoral Term, OtavaAarno Laitinen et al (1981) Tamminiemi's Inheritance Dividers, Journalist Men Ltd References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliament Finland