Centre Party
Name in Finnish	Suomen Keskusta
Name in Swedish	Centern i Finland
Leader	Matti Vanhanen
Founded	1906
Headquarters	Apollonkatu, 11a FIN-00100 HELSINKI
Political Ideology	Centrism, Agrarianism
Political Position	Centre
European Affiliation	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
International Affiliation	Liberal International
Colours	Green
Website	http://www.keskusta.fi
See also	Finnish Politics Finnish Parliament Finnish Government Finnish President Political parties Elections

The Centre Party (in Finnish: Suomen Keskusta, Kesk., in Swedish: Centern i Finland, C) is a centrist political party in Finland. It is one of the three largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democrats (SDP) and the National Coalition Party. Currently the Centre Party has the most seats, 51 out of 200, in the Finnish Parliament (2007). In the Finnish political context, it is sometimes considered to be a right-wing party. Its political influence is greatest in small and rural municipalities, where it often holds a majority of the seats in the municipal councils. Decentralization is the policy that is most characteristic of the Centre Party.

The party is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and subscribes to the liberal manifestos of these organisations. Its members in the European Parliament are members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Despite belonging to the Liberal International, the Centre Party does not play quite the same role in Finnish politics as do Liberal parties in other countries because it evolved from an Agrarian Party. In Finland, there is no large party that supports liberalism per se. Instead, liberalism is found in all parties as well as in the Centre Party, which supports decentralization, free will, free and fair trade, and small enterprise.

The party was founded in 1906 as a movement of citizens in the Finnish countryside. Before Finnish independence, political power in Finland was centralized in the capital and to the estates of the realm. The centralization gave space for a new political movement. In 1906 were founded two agrarian movements which in 1908 merged into one political party: the Agrarian League or Maalaisliitto.

From the very beginning of its presence the party has supported the idea of decentralization. At the dawn of Finnish independence the party supported republicanism as opposed to a monarchy backed by conservative social forces.

Soon the ideas of humanity, education, the spirit of the land, peasant-like freedom, decentralization, "the issue of poor people", progressivism, and later the "green wave" became the main political phrases describing the ideology of the party. Santeri Alkio was the most important ideological father of the party. In the 1930s centre forces led the fight against the threatening right-wing movement.

In 1965 the party changed its name to "Centre Party" or Keskustapuolue and in 1988 it took its current name Suomen Keskusta. Today the importance of humanity and tolerance, social safety and freedom of choice, regional equality, entrepreneurship, ecologically sustainable initiatives, and a decentralised, democratic decision-making process are important values for the Centre Party.

One of the major differences between the Finnish Centre and other parties has been its large number of members; hundreds of thousands of Finnish people are members of the party. In recent years, the party has gained many immigrant members as well.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout the period of Finland's independence the Centre Party has been the party most often represented in the government. The country's longest-serving president, Urho Kekkonen, was from the party.

Today, only a small portion (about 5%) of the votes given to the party come from farmers and the Centre Party draws support from a wide range of professions. However, even today rural Finland and small towns form the strongest base of support for the party, although it has worked toward making a breakthrough in the major southern cities as well. The current Prime Minister of Finland is Matti Vanhanen, who succeeded Anneli Jäätteenmäki.

Prominent party leaders

• Lauri Kristian Relander, President 1925-1931
• Kyösti Kallio, Prime Minister four times 1922-1937, President 1937-1940
• Urho Kekkonen, Prime Minister twice 1950-1956, President 1956-1981
• Martti Miettunen, Prime Minister twice 1961-1977
• Ahti Karjalainen, Prime Minister

List of party Chairmen

• Otto Karhi 1906-1909
• Kyösti Kallio 1909-1917
• Filip Saalasti 1918
• Santeri Alkio 1918
• Petter Vilhelm Heikkinen 1919-1940
• Viljami Kalliokoski 1941-1945
• Vieno Johannes Sukselainen 1946-1964
• Johannes Virolainen 1965-1980 - Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament
• Paavo Väyrynen 1980-1990 - Foreign Minister, Member of the European parliament
• Esko Aho 1990-2000, 2001-2002 - Prime Minister 1991-1995
• Anneli Jäätteenmäki 2000-2001, 2002-2003 - Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister 2003
• Matti Vanhanen 2003 - Prime Minister

See also

• Liberalism and centrism in Finland

External links

• (Finnish) Official website
• (English) Official website in English
• (Finnish) Youth organizations official website

Political parties in Finland
Centre in Finland - Christian Democrats in Finland - Green League - Left Alliance - National Coalition Party - Social Democratic Party of Finland - Swedish People's Party - True Finns Communist Party of Finland - Finnish Seniors' Party - For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party
- List of political parties - Politics of Finland

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