page_title: 2011 Finnish parliamentary election
section_title: Campaign
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Finnish parliamentary election / Campaign
caption_attribution_description: English: Finnish parliamentary election uses the open list method. Here an official poster rack in central Helsinki displays the candidates and their assigned ballot numbers by party. Suomi: Eduskuntavaalien 2011 vaalimainoksia Helsingin keskustassa
context_page_description: Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%.
  The importance of the election was magnified due to Finland's capacity to influence the European Union's decision in regard to affecting a bailout for Portugal via the European Financial Stability Facility, as part of financial support systems for debt-laden European countries, and the fall of the Portuguese government. Small differences in the opinion polls for the traditional three big parties and the surprising rise in support for the True Finns also electrified the atmosphere ahead of the election.
  The election resulted in a breakthrough for the populist True Finns, which came head-to-head with the three big parties, while every other parliamentary party in mainland Finland, excluding Åland, lost popularity. The National Coalition Party also ended up as the biggest party for the first time in its history. The total turnout rose to 70.5% from 67.9% in the previous election; and corruption scandals also resulted in an anti-incumbency vote.
context_section_description: In what was seen to have promoted anti-incumbency, a scandal regarding campaign finance followed allegation that the Centre Party's Timo Kalli's, who was also the head of the party's parliamentary group, admission in early May 2009 that he violated the law on reporting electoral campaign financing by not disclosing financial contributions he received for his election campaign during the previous election in 2007. When the media then delved further into the issue, stories started to emerge of common practice with a multitude of MPs not disclosing their financial benefactors, a practice which was not punishable under Finnish law. The media investigations focused on a group of entrepreneurs called Kehittyvien Maakuntien Suomi (Finland of Developing Provinces) who financed the electoral campaigns of numerous high-profile government and opposition candidates. Further investigations revealed that many recipients of their financial support did not register or even mention the amounts they received from the group. Then Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was at the core of the accusations after the investigations showed he had also been among the beneficiaries of the groups' financing; this was despite one of the members of the group who had planned to build the biggest shopping mall in the country received Vanhanen's support for the plans against the grain of public opinion, thus eliciting accusations that he could have been influenced by the individual. Blame was also put on the Centre Party's secretary Jarmo Korhonen. This was said to have helped the True Finns.
  The European sovereign debt crisis was another important issue in the election, even more so after Portugal applied for an EU bailout on 6 April, the first day of advance voting. According to an opinion poll nearly 60% of Finns were against Finland's participation in bailing out the crisis-ridden countries. All four parties of the governing coalition (Centre Party, National Coalition Party, Green League and the Swedish People's Party) support Finland's participation in the bailout and all four opposition parties (Social Democrats, Left Alliance, Christian Democrats and the True Finns) oppose such measures. The issue helped Soini become the most visible opposition leader. Soini then also stated that his party would not join in any coalition that supports guarantees to the crisis-ridden EU countries. He said that their crises are a consequence of the EU's failure. Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen had commented that a bailout for Portugal should only happen if the Portuguese parliament passed even tougher austerity measures than the failed programme that led to an early Portuguese election: "The package must be really strict because otherwise it doesn't make any sense. The package must be harder and more comprehensive than the one the parliament voted against." Despite his comments, the National Coalition Party believed the bailout to be in Finland's interests. It, along with the Centre Party, supported the bailout under the EU's auspices, while the True Finns and the Social Democrats were opposed to it. The True Finns said that Finnish taxpayers were being unjustly burdened by "squanderers" within the eurozone and pointed out that no one aided Finland during its own financial crisis in the 1990s. Helsingin Sanomat read the affair as having added "confusion" and complexity to the electoral race. The effect of the Finnish election on a possible EU bailout caused concern amongst to international investors as "it is a very distinct possibility that the next government and parliament of Finland will not want to agree to the things that the current government has signed up for, namely supporting Portugal and agreeing to the permanent and temporary crisis mechanisms," as there was said to be an "even chance" of Finland blocking a bailout for Portugal as its support was crucial because it would need the unanimous support of all national governments to pass. Finland's participation was further thrown in doubt as it was the only eurozone country to require parliamentary approval of any 
caption: An official poster rack in central Helsinki displays the candidates and their assigned ballot numbers by party.
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