Pohtiva
Tulostettu Pohtiva - Poliittisten ohjelmien tietovarannosta
URL: www.fsd.tuni.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat/KESK/210

Suomen Keskusta

Time to come home.


  • Puolue: Suomen Keskusta
  • Otsikko: Time to come home.
  • Vuosi: 2012
  • Ohjelmatyyppi: vaaliohjelma

Time to come home.

The home is the centre of our lives. When all is well in the home, the whole of Finland reaps the benefits.

Municipal elections will take place on 28 October 2012. Advance voting and voting at home in Finland will take place from 17-23 October. Advance voting abroad will take place from 17-20 October.

Finland as a whole

If it is up to the Centre Party, Finnish vitality will exist throughout the entire country, from its southern point to its most northern reaches.

Finland is such a small country that the input of each of its citizens is necessary in order to realise the common good. This won’t happen through a policy of centralization.

While others are leaning toward the centralization of residents, services and workplaces, we believe that everyone has the right to decide where their home, work and life will be situated. Finland will meet with success in this changing world only through the realisation of all the resources that the country, as a whole, has to offer.

Services on your doorstep

The closer homes are to child care, care for the elderly, schools, health care, libraries and other services, the greater the sense of wellness that is experienced by the residents of those homes. This is why we must ensure, by law, that everyone has access to local services.

We, as the Centre Party, are looking to put the health care system in order. There must be a stop to the health differences between Finnish citizens. Health care is one sector that definitely calls for co-operation between the municipalities and small domestic companies operating within the field. We simply cannot allow our health care services to fall into supranational hands.

Finland is full of vital municipalities that manage their matters well and work together with one another. The Centre Party believes that municipalities should have the right to decide independently how their services should be organised. Actions enforced under constraint will only leave us with a need to fill in gaps. The State’s duty is to ensure that the municipalities are supplied with sufficient resources for the services they need.

Bringing it back home

We are currently in a situation in which we need to cease the trend of accruing debt and to bring our economy into balance. But we must not do it at the expense of those who are weakest. Budget cuts that impact on services will be most detrimental for children, the sick and the elderly. They will lead to inequality, marginalisation and ill-being.

The Centre Party feels that now is the time to support the well-being of Finnish homes. The immediate initiation of movement in this direction, rather than waiting until it is too late, will surely benefit us all. The more our policies enable us to bring benefits into our homes and support people’s independence and initiative, the less pressure there will be on services.

Instead of a few extra euro, many Finnish families need help in managing their everyday lives. The Centre Party is ready to support those families through local services in the municipalities in which they live. With the addition of home-care and mobile services, we can effectively prevent problems from getting out of hand. This also relates directly to our aging population. In order for us to make sure that our elderly have the opportunity to live at home for as long as possible, if they so choose, we must mend our informal care system. Calculation of employee quotas and quarrelling are not going to solve the problems we are facing in terms of care for our elderly.

Moving forward with courage

Well-being comes about through employment and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship requires competence, courage and social support. It is not just about the individual. The future of Finland is at stake here. The Centre Party, if anyone, understands this point.

Alongside our traditionally strong fields of industry, we must develop new sustainable and competitive activities, whether it involves design or new products and services related to bioeconomics. Finland abounds with rich natural resources and expertise, upon which the next Nokias can, through courageous politics, be founded.

Rather than focusing on budget cuts and tax increases, the Centre Party is putting its faith in enterprise, perseverance and creativity in order to bring about new jobs.

Homebase or off base?

We all come from somewhere. Our home municipality and region are important to us. Indeed, our very identities have been built through them. The growth milieu, neighbours, interests and workplace are all a part of our local environment. It is the place where we set down our roots.

Finnish democracy is based on the fact that people have the opportunity to decide about their own matters. This is also the core of Centre Party thinking. We will stick to that. This is not the time to back down.

We can once again make Finland into a country based on a sense of community. The home is where we are raising the future Finland and where the generations interact. It used to be so that a child was raised by the whole village and neighbourhood. Let’s bring this tradition back into favour. It's time to bear responsibility, not only for ourselves and our own families, but also for our neighbours.