Citizens' Party (Finland)

Citizens' Party
Finnish nameKansalaispuolue
Swedish nameMedborgarpartiet
AbbreviationKP
ChairmanSami Kilpeläinen
Founded2016 (2016)
Dissolved2022
Split fromCentre Party
Merged intoChristian Democrats (de facto)
IdeologyEuroscepticism
Political positionCentre
Website
kansalaispuolue.net Edit this at Wikidata

Citizens' Party (Finnish: Kansalaispuolue, Swedish: Medborgarpartiet) was a Finnish political party, founded in 2016.[1] It was founded by the long-time Centre Party politician and MEP Paavo Väyrynen, who left Centre in early 2016.[2] Väyrynen acted as the first chairman of the party until July 2017, when he was succeeded by Sami Kilpeläinen.[3]

The party did not take part in the 2017 municipal elections, although Väyrynen was elected to the City Council of Helsinki as an independent candidate.[4] Väyrynen also participated in the 2018 presidential election as an independent candidate, finishing fourth with 6.2 percent of the votes.[5]

In March 2018, Citizens' Party expelled Väyrynen from the party, due to his alleged misdeeds with the campaign funding during the presidential elections.[6] Väyrynen denied the allegations and instead started a court case against the activities of the board of the party.[7] While the court case was still ongoing, Väyrynen founded a Citizens' Party's parliamentary group, intending to represent the party within the parliament.[8]

In November 2018, the District Court of Helsinki deemed void the majority of decisions made by the party board, including the decision to expel Väyrynen.[9] Chairman Sami Kilpeläinen soon announced that they would appeal against the decision while preparing for the 2019 parliamentary election as usual.[10] The decision promoted Väyrynen to abandon the Citizens' Party's parliamentary group in favor of that of his Seven Star Movement.[11] In April 2019, Citizens' Party and Väyrynen settled their differences.[12]

Citizens' Party took part in the 2019 parliamentary election, but none of its candidates were elected.[13] The party was dissolved in August 2022, and its active members were transferred to the Christian Democrats.[14]

  1. ^ "Paavo Väyrysen kansalaispuolue puoluerekisteriin". Iltalehti (in Finnish). 15 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Paavo Väyrynen perustaa uuden puolueen" (in Finnish). Ilta-sanomat. 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Kansalaispuolueessa on vain noin 30 päätösvaltaista jäsentä – tuore puheenjohtaja Sami Kilpeläinen aikoo jättää keskustan luottamustehtävät" (in Finnish). Suomenmaa. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Valitut: Helsinki". Ministry of Justice. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Väyrynen "äärimmäisen tyytyväinen" omaan tulokseensa – "Keväällä tulen ilahduttamaan Suomen kansaa sillä, että palaan eduskuntaan"" (in Finnish). Yle. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Kansalaispuolue ilmoittaa erottaneensa Paavo Väyrysen puolueesta" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanoamt. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Itseluottamusta uhkuva Väyrynen jättää kansalaispuolueen, tähtää yhä Sipilän tilalle – "Olen ollut kaksi kertaa nostamassa keskustaa kuilun partaalta"" (in Finnish). MTV3. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Väyrysen tilanteesta päänvaivaa eduskunnassa: "Emme voi tässä vaiheessa oikein evätäkään"" (in Finnish). Uusi Suomi. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Käräjäoikeus: Kansalaispuolueella ei ollut toimivaltaa erottaa Paavo Väyrystä" (in Finnish). Yle. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Kansalaispuolue aikoo valittaa hoviin ratkaisusta, jonka mukaan Väyrysen erottaminen oli laiton – "Mahdoton hyväksyä"" (in Finnish). Yle. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  11. ^ Ruokangas, Perttu (16 November 2018). "Väyrynen ei ehdolle EU-vaaleihin, eduskuntavaaliehdokkuus 'mahdollista'". Yle News (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  12. ^ Varpula, Salla (9 April 2019). "Paavo Väyrynen ja kansalaispuolue sopivat riitansa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Parliamentary Elections 2019: Party Results". Ministry of Justice. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Kansalaispuolue lopettaa toimintansa, aktiivinen jäsenistö sulautuu kristillisdemokraatteihin". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2023-01-07.