Veikko Vennamo
Who was the head of Finnish Rural Party from 1959 to 1979?
Finnish Rural Party The Finnish Rural Party ( , SMP ; , FLP ) was an agrarian and populist political party in Finland . Starting as a breakaway faction of the Agrarian League in 1959 , the party was identified with the person of Veikko Vennamo , a former Agrarian League Member of Parliament known for his opposition to the politics of President Urho Kekkonen . Vennamo was chairman of the Finnish Rural Party between 1959 and 1979 . Support for the party was at its highest in the 1970s and 1980s , with its share of the votes reaching around 10 percent in some parliamentary elections . In the 1990s , the party fell into financial trouble and was disbanded in 1995 ( formally dissolved in 2003 ) . The True Finns party is the successor of the Finnish Rural Party . History . The founder of the Finnish Rural Party was Veikko Vennamo , leader of a faction in the Agrarian League ( which was renamed Centre Party in 1965 ) . The relations of Veikko Vennamo and the Agrarian Leagues strong man Urho Kekkonen were icy at best , and after Kekkonen was elected president in 1956 Vennamo ran into serious disagreement with the party secretary , Arvo Korsimo , and was excluded from the parliamentary group . As a result , he immediately founded his own party in 1959 . The Finnish Rural Party started as a protest movement , with support from the unemployed and small farmers . The state-sponsored resettlement of veterans of World War II and evacuees from ceded Karelia into independent small farms provided an independent power base to Vennamo , who was nationally well known , having served as director of the government resettlement agency since the end of the war . Vennamo was the honorary chairman of Asutusliitto , the resettler society , and the society was involved in early campaigning . For the newly founded party , the main carrying force was Vennamo , who was charismatic , a good orator and a skilled negotiator . The Rural Party won in its best showing with 18 seats in the Finnish parliament ( which has 200 seats ) in the 1970 election . The party got exactly the same amount of MPs in the next election in 1972 , but was soon afterwards split in two as a majority of the parliamentary group , 12 members , resigned to establish a new party called the Finnish Peoples Unity Party ( Suomen Kansan Yhtenäisyyden Puolue , SKYP ) . The party defectors accused Vennamo of autocratic leadership , while Vennamo accused the defectors of having been bought off with parliamentary party subsidies . Veikko Vennamos son , Pekka Vennamo , became the party leader when his father retired in the 1980s . Vennamo Junior had neither the charisma nor the oratorical skills of his father . Other parties noticed this , and the Rural Party was taken into the cabinet in 1983 . As a protest movement without a charismatic leader , burdened with ministers participating in unpopular coalitions , the party gradually lost political support . Agricultural changes proved hard for small farmers , who sold their farms and moved to the cities . The Social Democratic Party was seen as a more credible alternative for the unemployed . Finally , the declining support of the Rural Party forced Vennamo Junior to resign . Some of the partys former MPs joined the Centre Party or retired with Vennamo . The partys last chairman and MP Raimo Vistbacka ( the only one elected in 1995 ) was among the founders of the Finns Party and became that partys first MP and chairman . The Rural Partys last party secretary Timo Soini likewise became the Finns Partys first party secretary . With the Finns Partys electoral success in the 2011 election three former Rural Party MPs returned to the parliament as the Finns Party MPs ( Anssi Joutsenlahti , Lea Mäkipää , Pentti Kettunen ) . Ideology . The party held anti-establishment or anti-elite views , and criticized other politicians and parties , the government , bureaucrats , international corporations , academics , cultural elites and corruption , while idealizing the ordinary people and small-time entrepreneurs of the countryside . Vennamo attacked , for example , other members of the parliament for over-claiming daily allowances . The party was also anti-communist , and claimed established parties and the political leadership were too subservient to the Soviet Union . Vennamo was known for inventing and using pejorative terms , such as rötösherrat ( rotten gentlemen ) , referring to allegedly corrupt politicians , and teoriaherrat ( theoretical gentlemen ) , referring to academics allegedly lacking common sense . A slogan used by the party was Kyllä kansa tietää ! ( Yes , the people know! ) . The party professed to hold traditional Christian values , and , for example , opposed the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1971 . Racism and xenophobia were not visibly part of the partys ideology . Prominent Ruralists . Chairmen . - Veikko Vennamo ( 1959–1979 ) - Pekka Vennamo ( 1979–1989 ) - Heikki Riihijärvi ( 1989–1991 ) - Tina Mäkelä ( 1991–1992 ) - Raimo Vistbacka ( 1992–1995 ) Party Secretaries . - Köpi Luoma 1959–1960 - Eino Poutiainen 1961–1970 - Rainer Lemström 1970–1972 ja 1977–1979 - Urpo Leppänen 1972–1977 ja 1979–1984 - Aaro Niiranen 1984−1989 - Tina Mäkelä 1989–1991 - Reijo Rinne 1991−1992 - Timo Soini 1992–1995 Deputy Chairpersons . - Tauno Lääperi 1959– ? - Aarne Jokela 1959– ? - Rainer Lemström 1 . 1976–1977 - Aune Rutonen 2 . 1976–1982 - Eino Poutiainen 1977–1979 - Niilo Salpakari 1980–1982 - Leo Lassila 1982–1983 - Helvi Koskinen 1982–1985 - Kalle Palosaari 1 . 1983–1988 - Lea Mäkipää 2 . 1985– - Timo Soini 1 . 1991–1992 - Toivo Satomaa 2 . 1991– - Marja-Leena Leppänen - Jouko Kröger Chairpersons of the parliamentary group . - J . Juhani Kortesalmi ( 1979–1983 , 1986–1987 ) - Veikko Vennamo ( 1983–1986 ) - Heikki Riihijärvi ( 1987 ) - Urpo Leppänen ( 1987–1988 ) - Sulo Aittoniemi ( 1988–1994 ) - Lea Mäkipää ( 1994–1995 ) - Raimo Vistbacka ( 1995 ) Party Congresses . - Perustava kokous ( founding congress ) 9.2.1959 Pieksämäki - 1 . puoluekokous ( party congress ) 29.–30.1959 Kiuruvesi - 2 . puoluekokous 3.–4.9.1960 Joensuu - 3 . puoluekokous 4.–5.8.1961 Jyväskylä - 4 . puoluekokous 16.–17.6.1962 Pieksämäki - 5 . puoluekokous 15.–16.6.1963 Seinäjoki - 6 . puoluekokous 13.–14.6.1964 Kuopio - 7 . puoluekokous 12.–13.6.1965 Oulu - 8 . puoluekokous 13.–14.8.1966 Tampere - ylimääräinen puoluekokous ( extraordinary party congress ) 29.10.1966 Helsinki - 9 . puoluekokous 5.–6.8.1967 Helsinki - 10 . puoluekokous 3.–4.8.1968 Kajaani - 11 . puoluekokous 16.–17.8.1969 Pori - 12 . puoluekokous ?.8.1970 Lahti - 13 . puoluekokous 7.–8.8.1971 Oulu - 14 . puoluekokous 12.8.1972 Kouvola - 15 . puoluekokous 4.–5.8.1973 Mikkeli - 16 . puoluekokous 3.–4.8.1974 Turku - 17 . puoluekokous 1975 Jyväskylä - 18 . puoluekokous 7.–8.8.1976 Joensuu - 19 . puoluekokous 6.–7.8.1977 Oulu - 20 . puoluekokous 5.–6.8.1978 Tampere - 21 . puoluekokous 4.–5.8.1979 Pori - 22 . puoluekokous 1.–3.8.1980 Lahti - 23 . puoluekokous 7.–9.8.1981 Seinäjoki - 24 . puoluekokous 6.–8.8.1982 Lappeenranta - 25 . puoluekokous 5.–7.8.1983 Kuopio - 26 . puoluekokous 3.–5.8.1984 Turku - 27 . puoluekokous 2.–4.8.1985 Hyvinkää - 28 . puoluekokous 8.–10.8.1986 Jyväskylä - 29 . puoluekokous 7.–9.8.1987 Oulu - 30 . puoluekokous 5.–7.8.1988 Lahti - 33 . puoluekokous 4.–5.8.1991 Turku - 34 . puoluekokous 1.8.1993 Mikkeli - 35 . puoluekokous 3.–4.7.1994 Oulu External links . - The New Radical Right Taking Shape in Finland , Kyösti Pekonen , Pertti Hynynen and Mari Kalliala ; accessed 26 March 2011 .