Parliamentary elections were held in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
on 1 and 2 April 1924.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p606 Although the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
remained the largest in Parliament with 60 of the 200 seats,
Lauri Ingman
Lars (Lauri) Johannes Ingman (30 June 1868 – 25 October 1934) was a Finnish theologian, bishop and politician. He was born in Teuva. In 1906 he began to serve as the editor of '' Vartija'', a Christian magazine. From 1916 to 1930 he was the pr ...
of the
National Coalition Party
The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland.
Founded in 1918, the ...
formed a centre-right majority government in May 1924. It remained intact until the
Agrarians left in November 1924. Voter turnout was 57.4%.
Background
President
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg ( , ; 28 January 1865 – 22 September 1952) was a Finnish jurist and academic who was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a liberal ...
decided to dissolve Parliament in January 1924 and to organise early elections for April 1924, as since August 1923, Parliament had been 27 members short following the arrest of the Communist MPs suspected of treason. Around December 1923 and January 1924, the Social Democrats threatened to withdraw from Parliament, unless early elections were held. Prime Minister
Kyösti Kallio
Kyösti Kallio (, 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937 to 1940. His presidency included leading the country through the Winter War; while he relinquished the post ...
opposed the dissolution of Parliament, true to his parliamentary principles, and resigned after Ståhlberg indicated that he would dissolve Parliament. After Kallio's resignation, Ståhlberg appointed a caretaker government of civil servants, led by Professor
Aimo Cajander
Aimo Kaarlo Cajander (4 April 1879 – 21 January 1943) was the Prime Minister of Finland up to the Winter War.
Cajander was born in Uusikaupunki, and became a botanist, a professor of forestry 1911–34; director-general for Finland's Fores ...
(a
Progressive). The 1922 land reform had been enacted, on the initiative of Prime Minister Kallio. The National Coalitioners were becoming more right-wing and less reformist. The Progressives were losing votes to the National Coalitioners and Agrarians, with their brand of petty-bourgeois, urban liberalism losing its appeal in the still heavily agrarian Finland.
[Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003]
Results
See also
*
List of members of the Parliament of Finland, 1924–1927
References
{{Finnish elections
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...