1948 Finnish parliamentary election

General election Finland state-1920 parliamentary 1945 Finnish parliamentary election 1945 1951 Finnish parliamentary election 1951 All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 1–2 July 1948 130x130px Vieno Johannes Sukselainen.jpg V. J. Sukselainen Agrarian League (Finland) 49 seats, 21.35% 56 455,635 24.24% 7 2.89pp Emil-Skog-1957.jpg Emil Skog Social Democratic Party of Finland 50 seats, 25.08% 54 494,719 26.32% 4 1.24pp Kulo (cropped).JPG Kusti Kulo SKDL 49 seats, 23.47% 38 375,538 19.98% 11 3.49pp Arvo Salminen (cropped).jpg Arvo Salminen National Coalition Party 28 seats, 15.04% 33 320,366 17.04% 5 2.00pp Ralf Törngren1.jpg Ralf Törngren Swedish People's Party of Finland 14 seats, 7.90% 13 1 137,981 7.34% 0.56pp Akseli Nikula in 1946.jpg Akseli Nikula National Progressive Party (Finland) 9 seats, 5.17% 5 73,444 3.91% 4 1.26pp Åland Coalition – 1 new 6,567 0.35% new Mauno Pekkala Prime Minister SKDL Prime Minister after election Karl-August Fagerholm Social Democratic Party of Finland Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1948.Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 Background The political atmosphere during the July 1948 Finnish parliamentary elections was heated. Many Finns across the party lines believed that the communists and the Finnish People's Democratic League had pursued their goal of making Finland a solidly left-wing country too vigorously. They had even held the prime ministership since March 1946, with Mauno Pekkala serving in that position. They had organized many mass meetings, demanded the dismissal of "reactionary" (especially right-wing) civil servants and claimed that the Finnish government had to adopt even a friendlier relationship with the Soviet Union. They had vigorously supported the imprisonment of eight former top politicians, including former president Risto Ryti, for "war guilt" (making decisions that resulted in the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944 between Finland, the Soviet Union and Germany). In the spring of 1948, there were even unproven rumours of an imminent coup attempt by the Finnish communists. Some Finnish war veterans condemned the communist interior minister Yrjö Leino for deporting to the Soviet Union Ingrian Finns, East Karelians and Estonians who had fought in the Finnish army during the Continuation War. The controversy over the treatment of these "prisoners of Leino", several of whom were Finnish citizens, forced Leino to resign in May 1948. The Social Democratic Party's election slogan was: "Enough already: price hikes, lying promises, opinion terror, forced democracy." The Agrarian League's election slogan was: "On these leans the Agrarian League" under the Bible and the Finnish law. The National Coalition Party declared simply: "Be free." These traditional democratic parties gained a total of 16 members of parliament in the election, while the communists lost 11, compared to the 1945 election. After the election, the Finnish politics began to stabilize. The United States appreciated Finland's desire to remain a Western democracy, despite its close relationship with the Soviet Union, symbolized by the Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance Treaty (FCMA), which was signed in April 1948. After the election, the Social Democrats formed a minority government under prime minister Karl-August Fagerholm. They did not want to form a government with the Agrarian League, claimed the late veteran agrarian-centrist politician Johannes Virolainen, because they feared that they would lose votes to the communists in the next election. The Agrarian League quietly supported Fagerholm's government.Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003Pentti Virrankoski, Finland's History 1&2 / Suomen historia 1&2, Helsinki: Finnish Literary Society / Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 2009Johannes Virolainen, The Last Electoral Term / Viimeinen vaalikausi, Helsinki: Otava, 1991 Results Summary File:1948 Eduskunta.svg Social Democratic Party 494719 54 +4 Agrarian League 455635 56 +7 Finnish People's Democratic League 375538 38 –11 National Coalition Party 320366 33 +5 Swedish People's Party 137981 13 –1 National Progressive Party 73444 5 –4 Åland Coalition 6567 1 New Small Farmers Party 5378 0 0 Radical People's Party 5162 0 0 Others 5178 0 – 13869 0 2420287 Tilastokeskus 2004Tiedosto "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004) By electoral district Electoral districtTotalseatsSeats wonMLSDPSKDLKokRKPKEÅSÅland11Central Finland114322Häme112423Kymi321210361Lapland84121North Karelia104411North Savo114241North Vaasa831112Oulu1782511Pirkanmaa121533Satakunta133433South Savo115411South Vaasa1031123Uusimaa31196672Varsinais-Suomi14244211Total200565438331351Source: Statistics FinlandSuomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:21: Eduskuntavaalit vuonna 1948 Statistics Finland 1949 References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliament Finland