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Finnish People First

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Finnish People First
Suomen Kansa Ensin
AbbreviationSKE
ChairpersonRiikka Salmi [fi]
SecretaryAri Lindström
Vice chairpersonKari Sunell
Founded2018 (2018)
Dissolved2023 (2023)
Split fromSuomi Ensin [fi]
HeadquartersTampere, Finland
IdeologyFinnish nationalism
Euroscepticism
Anti-immigration
Anti-Islamization
Political positionFar-right
Parliament of Finland
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Website
skepuolue.fi Edit this at Wikidata
Finnish People First campaigning during SuomiAreena

Finnish People First[1] (Finnish: Suomen Kansa Ensin, SKE[2]) was a nationalist political party in Finland. It was founded in 2018[3] and de-registered in 2023 after failing to win seats in two consecutive parliamentary elections.[4] In July 2023, the party filed for bankruptcy and announced its dissolution.[5]

History

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Finnish People First originated from the Suomi Ensin ("Finland First") movement that organized a protest camp in central Helsinki in the spring of 2017.[6][7] The movement was led by Marco de Wit,[6] a YouTuber from Tampere.[8][6] The movement splintered into numerous competing factions, one of which evolved into Finnish People First,[6] also led by de Wit.[9] It was registered as an association in November 2017.[10] The association had collected the required 5,000 supporter cards by October 2018, and was admitted to the party register in December that year.[6] Soon after, the party descended into internal strife. A party conference was convened to address the issue, but only resulted in furthering the divides. The conference re-elected Marco De Wit as the party chairman, but some members of the party contested the validity of the conference.[11] Another conference in November 2019 also brought up divisions within the party, when a group of members voted a new chair at a meeting, and after the meeting was partly evicted from the premises by security, the disputed new chair decided the meeting would continue at a neighbouring room with a large part of participants while another disputed chair decided to continue the meeting at the original premises with rest of the participants.[12]

Finnish People First took part in the 2019 parliamentary election. During the campaign the party displayed campaign ads that the police investigated for criminal content.[13] No candidates were elected.[14]

Ideology

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Finnish People First was extreme nationalist and anti-immigration.[15][6] It opposed Finland's membership in the European Union and the Eurozone, and would return to its former currency, the Finnish markka.[16] The party opposed NATO and what it called "harmful immigration" and "Islamization".[6] The party has been described as far-right,[17] although the way it described its position on the left–right political spectrum was ambiguous.[16]

Election results

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Parliament of Finland

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Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
2019 2,366 0.08
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 New Extra-parliamentary
2023 1,229 0.04
0 / 200
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary

Municipal elections

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Election Votes % Seats
2021 197 0.0 0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Extra-parliamentary parties band together ahead of April elections". Yle News. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Friday's papers: Independence Day ball and demonstrations". Yle News. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  3. ^ Tikkala, Hannu; Tolkki, Kristiina (3 April 2019). "'Hävittäjähankinnat peruttava, 1 200 euron perustulo kaikille, opintolainat nollattava' – tätä kaikkea pienpuolueet lupaavat äänestäjille". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Yhdeksän puoluetta poistettu puoluerekisteristä". Vaalit.fi (in Finnish). Ministry of Justice. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Kansallismielinen Suomen Kansa Ensin jätti konkurssihakemuksen käräjäoikeuteen". yle.fi. YLE. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Paakkanen, Mikko (11 December 2018). "Suomeen rekisteröitiin uusi maahanmuuttovastainen puolue". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Suomeen syntyi uusi puolue – tunnetaan Rautatientorin tempauksesta". Helsingin Uutiset (in Finnish). 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  8. ^ Eklund, Ville (11 December 2018). "Uusi Suomen Kansa Ensin -puolue nousi puoluerekisteriin – 18 puolueesta ainoa, jolla ei ole ruotsinkielistä nimeä". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Suomi ensin -liikkeen keulahahmo Marco de Wit aikoo rekisteröidä yhdistyksensä puolueeksi eduskuntavaaleihin". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 30 October 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  10. ^ "PRH Yhdistysnetti". Yhdistysrekisteri (in Finnish). Patentti- ja rekisterihallitus. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  11. ^ Pekkonen, Sanna (20 January 2019). "Vasta perustetussa Suomen Kansa Ensin -puolueessa kytee jo erimielisyyksiä: Osa uskoo, ettei puolue edes pääse vaaleihin – 'Mikään ei voi estää meitä'". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Vallankaappausyritys Suomen kansa ensin -puolueessa – puheenjohtajaksi halunnut heilui nuija kädessä kokouksessa". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). 28 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Poliisi epäilee rikosta Suomen kansa ensin -puolueen kampanjoinnissa – toinen epäillyistä puolueen puheenjohtaja Marco de Wit". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). STT. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Party results". Information and Result Service. Ministry of Justice. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  15. ^ Huusko, Markku (3 May 2019). "'Suomen pitää luopua eurosta ja ottaa käyttöön oma valuutta' - Vaalit lähestyvät, näin ehdokkaiden vastaukset vaihtelevat EU-vaalikoneessa". Talouselämä (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Kansallismielinen Suomen Kansa Ensin puoluerekisteriin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). STT. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Vasemmistoliiton Markus Mustajärvi puolustaa puheenvuoroaan äärioikeiston mielenosoittajille". Lapin Kansa (in Finnish). STT. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
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