Kansalaisliitto
Political party in Finland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kansalaisliitto (abbr. KaL; formerly Independence Party (Finnish: Itsenäisyyspuolue, IPU;[3] Swedish: Självständighetspartiet[4]) is a de-registered Eurosceptic political party in Finland.[5] It was founded on 17 July 1994 as Alliance for Free Finland.[6] The party supports Finland’s membership in the European Economic Area, however it is against its membership in the European Union and the Eurozone. The party opposes Finland’s membership in NATO.[7]
| |
| Abbreviation | KaL |
| Chairman | Arto Paajanen |
| Secretary | Päivi Järnfors |
| First deputy chair | Juho Tanila[1] |
| Second deputy chair | Terho Anttolainen[1] |
| Third deputy chair | Satu Immola[1] |
| Founded | 17 July 1994 |
| Headquarters | Laitila |
| Youth wing | Independence Youth |
| Ideology | Direct democracy Economic democracy Anti-racism[2] |
| European affiliation | TEAM |
| Website | |
www | |
Party organization
Based in Laitila, Kansalaisliitto was a registered party from 1994 to 2023. Kansalaisliitto is a minor political party;[8] it has never had any MPs in the Finnish Parliament.[9] Its youth wing is called Independence Youth.[10] The party is a member of The European Alliance of EU-critical Movements (TEAM).[11]
History
Kansalaisliitto was founded in 1994 as Alliance for Free Finland (Finnish: Vapaan Suomen Liitto, VSL; Swedish: Förbundet för det Fria Finland, FFF).[3][12] Its chairman from its founding until 2004 was Ilkka Hakalehto.[13]
Antti Pesonen served as the party's chairman from 2004 until his resignation for health reasons in 2015. He was re-elected chairman 2016,[5] but resigned again in 2017 shortly before his death in April.[14] He had previously been a city councilor of the party in Alajärvi.[2] Henri Aitakari followed Pesonen as chairman.[15]
Kansalaisliitto has been admitted into the party register four times,[9] the latest re-admission having taken place in January 2017.[14] Only Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism has dropped out and been re-admitted as many times.[9] The party was de-registered again in 2023 after failing to win seats in two consecutive parliamentary elections.[16]
