PRESIDENTAL ELECTIONS IN FINLAND 1904
New, democratic Finland is finaly going to get a leader selected by the people, as people will vote for their favourite candidate to be the president of Finland for the next 6 years! Originally there were five candidates, but two of them have withdrawn themselves from the competition including prime minister Santeri Alkio, who, by leaving the competition, is hoping to get more votes to Tanner and Ståhlberg, to ensure that Svinhufvud of the conservatives wont get selected. Before we get to the result of the elections, lets introduce the candidates..
Väinö Tanner Leader of the social-democrat party since 1895, Tanner has brought democracy back to Finland by a coup which he organized one year ago. Since then he has been the temporary head of state. His agenda is to drive Finland towards Germany in foreign policy and to drive Finland towards social equality in domestic policies. Tanner is also the only candidate with a Finnish name, which would make him the choice for the patriotic liberals who might not like their own Fenno-Swedish candidate, Ståhlberg.
K. J. Ståhlberg One of the most important characters of the central-rightist and liberal Progression Party, Ståhlberg is a known lawyer who strictly believes in democracy and parliamentarism. Altough he drives some rightist policies, his main agenda is to find unity between the leftists and the rightists, which would include giving some ground to the social-democrats such as Germany-based foreign policy, which Ståhlberg would like very much despite his Fenno-Swedish heritage. This doesnt change the fact that when it comes down to domestic economic policies, Ståhlberg is a strict believer of free market and commercial liberalism.
P. E. Svinhufvud The most well-known politician of the rightist Conservative Party and former king Pauli Is right hand, Svinhufvud is pretty much the only one of the leading politicians of the last decade who isnt imprisoned at the moment. His agenda is strictly rightist: foreign policy includes breaking all ties with Germany for as long as they are communist, and domestically he would not allow the social-democrats to be in the cabinet he openly admits that if he gets selected, he will use the presidental right to dissolve the parliament and order new parliamentary elections, so the current government would have to retire and he could appoint a new, anti-socialist government for the nation.
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And now, to the results of the first round of the presidential elections, held in january 16th 1904:
VÄINÖ TANNER (social-democrats) 41 %
K. J. STÅHLBERG (progressive party) 30 %
P. E. SVINHUFVUD (conservatives) 29 %
Since none of the candidates received the majority of votes, there will be a new round exactly one month from now in which P. E. Svinhufvud will not participate anymore, since he got the least amount of votes in this round. According to experts analysis, prime minister Alkios last minute withdrawal saved Ståhlberg from being dropped from the second round. Now it is very unlikely for Tanner to win now, because Svinhufvuds voters are almost certainly not going to give their vote to a social-democrat..
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Results of the second round of the presidential elections, held in february 16th 1904:
VÄINÖ TANNER (social-democrats) 44 %
K. J. STÅHLBERG (progressive party) 56 %
As expected, almost everyone voting for Svinhufvud in the first round gave their vote to Ståhlberg in the second, and with 56 % of all votes, Ståhlberg is now the president of the Republic of Finland for the next 6 years.
All hail to president Ståhlberg!
Ståhlbergs speech after defeating Tanner:
Citizens of Finland, kansalaiset, medborgaren! I believe that receiving the support of 56 % of voters in these elections is a clear sign that in the end, most Finns do not want the cultural diversity between the rightists and the leftists that has torn our nation apart and already lowered our cultural level! I believe that most Finns want the same thing as I do: that when we look at each other in the eyes, we dont see a communist, or a pro-monarchist.. I hope that we will just see another Finn, a person who comes from the same people, the same nation, as I do. To achieve this, my friends, we need to be understanding towards the demands of both the leftists and the rightists. In foreign policies, we must put our trust in a great power without looking at their form of government with prejudice! Peoples Republic of Germany, which has helped Finland become a civilized, democratic nation, is such a superpower, and hopefully they will become Finlands closest trading partner and military ally during my 6-year term!
With these words.. may the re-unification of the Finnish people and the Finnish culture begin!
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Alkios government resigns Castren to form a new one
Prime Minister Santeri Alkio of the Agrarian League, a good friend of Ståhlberg who shares the same ideology, didnt want to be in the way of Ståhlbergs new national unification program by running a very leftist government. As a result, he decided to retire, so Ståhlberg wouldnt have to dissolve the parliament. Ståhlberg appointed Kaarlo Castren of the central-liberal Progression Party which drives the same agenda as the president does to form a new government. Quickly, a new central-liberal government was made out of Progression Party, Agrarian League and the Karelian Alliance. Former Prime Minister Alkio is now the minister of domestic affairs.
VOTING FOR THE PARLIAMENTS SUPPORT FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT
As stated before, in Finland a government has to have the support of the majority of the parliament or it must resign. Can Castrens new government survive this test, since the government parties (progression, agrarian and karelian) have alltogether only 37 MPs out of 200?
YAY 127
NAY 73
For everyones utter amazement, the social-democrats decided to support this government! Perhaps they feared that if this government would fall because of them, president Ståhlberg would get back at them by making the infamous Conservative Party to form the next government. Or perhaps they just didnt want to become known as THE party that wrecked the national unification program. Either way, experts have analyzed that Castrens new central government will almost certainly give in to some socialist demands in their policies, since if the social-democrats would withdraw their support, this government would collapse immediately.