Left Alliance (Finland)
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Left Alliance
Vasemmistoliitto Vänsterförbundet |
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| Abbreviation | VAS |
| Chairperson | Li Andersson |
| Secretary | Joonas Leppänen |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Preceded by | Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) |
| Headquarters | Viherniemenkatu 5 A FI-00530 Helsinki |
| Newspaper | Kansan Uutiset |
| Youth wing | Left Youth |
| Women's wing | Left Women |
| Children's wing | Democratic Union of Finnish Pioneers |
| Membership (2011) | 10,500 |
| Ideology |
Democratic socialism Eco-socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| European affiliation | Party of the European Left |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | European United Left–Nordic Green Left |
| Nordic affiliation | Nordic Green Left Alliance |
| Colors | Red, Green |
| Parliament |
12 / 200
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| European Parliament |
1 / 13
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| Municipalities |
640 / 9,674
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| Website | |
| www |
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The Left Alliance (Finnish: Vasemmistoliitto, Swedish: Vänsterförbundet, VAS) is a left-wing political party in Finland.
Founded in 1990, largely as a successor of the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), it has received some electoral success, receiving around ten percent of the vote in parliamentary elections. The party is a member of the Party of the European Left and Nordic Green Left Alliance. The party organ is the weekly Kansan Uutiset.
The party was founded by the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), the majority of members of the waning Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and the Finnish Women's Democratic League (SNDL). It was later joined by the communist Democratic Alternative. The founding meeting was held in April 1990 in Helsinki, following the publishing of the April Declaration, which stated the party's ideals.
The party's short history has been characterised by internal disputes and bickering, as it was formed by people with very different views on society. There have been several defections from the Left Alliance to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the newly formed Communist Party of Finland. In 2005, the party's former secretary and Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions's assistant head Matti Viialainen formed a society to promote merger between the two largest Finnish left-wing political parties, the Left Alliance and the SDP. This caused an outrage within the Left Alliance, and Viialainen was condemned for wanting to break up the party. Viialainen would subsequently leave the party and run for parliament on the SDP ticket in 2007.
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