Pohtiva
Tulostettu Pohtiva - Poliittisten ohjelmien tietovarannosta
URL: www.fsd.tuni.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat/VAS/784

Vasemmistoliitto

Left Alliance Municipal Election Platform


  • Puolue: Vasemmistoliitto
  • Otsikko: Left Alliance Municipal Election Platform
  • Vuosi: 2008
  • Ohjelmatyyppi: vaaliohjelma

Left Alliance Municipal Election Platform

Change will be done in municipalities in 2008 - 2012

The aim is a good and meaningful everyday life

In Left Alliance's vision freedom, equality and sustainable development are a reality in municipalities. All people have the right to a good everyday life. All people should have the chance to lead a meaningful life with a home, work and income, with close people and friends, as well as with clean nature and a comfortable built environment.

Left Alliance is committed with all its political power to the promotion of the inhabitants' good life all over the country. Left Alliance wants to build a sense of community together with the people. Left Alliance does not want to leave the inhabitants or services and the improvement of the environment to the market forces. Municipalities and cities must have a firm grip in the enhancement of services and people's well-being as well as in the avoidance of environmental risks. Municipalities must be committed to the prevention of poverty and social exclusion.

More power and equality to the inhabitants

The local council is the highest decision-making organ in municipalities. The inhabitants must have good chances to influence their own lives and environments in their municipalities. Grass-roots democracy must function. Connections to the municipal decision-makers must be direct and open. Communication about municipal issues has to be open and all inhabitants must be able to reach it. The role of the elected councils must be improved in municipalities. Municipal decision-makers are in a key position in the promotion of municipal vitality and well-being. The transparency of decision-making must be increased and the decisions must be made available for the inhabitants' inspection already in the preparatory stages.

The inhabitants' own channels of influence must be made more varied. The inhabitants should have a say in issues related to their living environment and the way the services are organized. Electronic opportunities for putting pressure on the decision-makers must be increased and made more varied. Municipal and neighbourhood activities must be supported. Referendums should also be used more frequently in municipalities.

Services close to the people must finally be made all right

Left Alliance thinks that municipal services should mainly be produced as the municipality's own work. The funding of the services must be guaranteed with tax income. The preventive perspective must be strong in the production of services.

The reform of municipal services and structures must be actively influenced. Democracy, services close to the people or the municipalities' own service production should not be jeopardized with the municipal reform. Services close to the people must be guaranteed also in municipal fusions. Municipal services must be of good quality and free, or available for a reasonable fee. The service fees in municipal health and social services must not be raised. The development of basic health care is in a key position when health differentials are being reduced.

The improvement of municipal services requires sufficient funding and political will. Municipalities must be attractive employers. Municipalities must strengthen good leadership, hire enough personnel in permanent job contracts, support the well-being of the personnel and develop the working conditions. Municipalities will be significant employers also in the future.

Left Alliance is committed to listening to and to taking into account the inhabitants' views. Disabled services, child health clinics, day care, basic schools, school health care, health care, dental health care, care for the elderly, child protection, substance abuse services, mental patient rehabilitation, homeless services, sports, library and cultural services as well as many other municipal services must be kept at a level where the inhabitants want them to be.

The government must be committed to financing municipal services with state subsidies more than it is today. Also regional differences and the economic inequality between municipalities must be evened out with state subsidies. Municipalities themselves must also budget enough money to welfare services.

Children and youth must be given a good environment to grow and to learn

Municipal decision-makers must take into account the needs of children and young people in decision-making. Their views should count in town planning and in the planning of public transportation, living, teaching, sports, youth and cultural services and in the realisation of other services that have an effect on the lives of children and young people. The decision-makers should listen to the young themselves and their participation should be made possible.

School must be a safe, healthy and creative learning environment. Study guidance should be increased in schools and group sizes must be made smaller. There must be enough school nurses, psychologists and doctors. There should be guidelines and follow-ups in cases of bullying. Opportunities should be given to young people's free-time activities.

Free and good quality education after basic school should be guaranteed. Enough resources must be allocated to professional teaching, counsellors and career guidance as well as to other support systems. Students should have health services in the municipality where they study.

Municipal services should support parenthood and the well-being of families. Maternity and child health clinics, family social services as well as day care centres, schools, youth work and other services must react more comprehensively to the needs of different families of all types.

Preventive child protection should be effectively resourced. Child and youth exclusion must be stopped already in child health clinics, day care, schools and in other service networks. Afternoon care to small school children should be extensively organized.

Municipal services should take into account the needs of immigrant children and young people and their families.

We share responsibility for good old age

The measure of the humaneness of the services for the elderly is how well the society takes care of the people who need constant care towards the end of their lives.

We must listen to the old people's own wishes, needs and plans in the development of the services for the elderly. The elderly are a varied group of people as comes to age, fitness and need for services. Preventive work is most important and it has to be examined in municipalities from the perspectives of physical and mental well-being as well as from the social and physical environment. It is vital to support the elderly people's cultural and sporting activities, develop preventive health care and build the environment to have unrestricted access. By extending home services we will best ensure that more elderly people will be able to live independently at their own homes.

All inhabitants have the right to a home

Municipalities must take care that different types of housing are available to the people. Left Alliance also demands that homelessness be eradicated. Municipalities have a special responsibility in guaranteeing reasonably priced rental housing. In order for the municipality to be able to affect the housing supply it needs to be active as the owner as well as the builder of rental housing. Inhabitant democracy must be enhanced. Municipalities must promote sustainable development in housing. New and old housing estates have to be covered by well-functioning public transport. The functioning of public transport must be guaranteed already at the zoning stages of new housing developments. Municipalities must promote the better energy efficiency of buildings. People should have the chance to live at their homes at all ages. Living at home must be promoted by building and fixing apartments to have unrestricted access for the disabled and the elderly and with different home and support services. A living environment must be guaranteed for the future generations Clean environment increases the quality of life. The sustainable use of natural resources and the prevention of the climate change must always be taken into account in all human action and business. The spreading of the community structure and the destruction of the nature must be prevented.

Living in the city centre must be made efficient, well-functioning and peaceful through zoning. Suburban living must be developed to become more comfortable and to save the nature. City forests must be saved for recreation, sports and free-time use.

The zero-emission city should be made the goal of zoning and traffic solutions. Building, living, services and businesses must be made to fit the public transport system as well as the walking and cycling distances. The services and public transportation in the countryside and neighbouring centres must be improved.

The use of the public transportation services should be increased by reducing ticket prices. Public support for public transport must be increased in the larger cities. Municipal energy efficiency campaigns must be turned into an ongoing project. All municipalities should draft their own energy saving program and give the inhabitants better opportunities to act in their everyday life in a way that stops the climate change as well as the loss of biodiversity. One goal in zoning and building must be to save energy. Municipalities must use environmentally friendly technology and make eco-efficient and ethical purchases. Municipalities must make environmentally friendly decisions as energy producers.

All large municipalities must draft a climate strategy or the municipality must partake in the regional climate strategy.

Immigrants and ethnic minorities should be made decision-makers in their own municipalities

Immigrants have the right to an equal living and livelihood. Municipalities must have diverse services supporting immigrant settlement, employment and increased opportunities to have influence.

Finnish and Swedish language teaching must be given as needed from day care into adulthood. Immigrants must be encouraged and supported to participate in municipal decision-making and in other areas of influence.

Immigrant women often have slimmer chances than men to have a life outside the home.

Women's settlement, language learning and access to jobs must be supported by taking into account especially women's needs.

Apart from immigrants, municipalities must take care of the needs of the other ethnic minorities as well as the Sami population. Active work needs to be done to support the education and employment of the Roma.

Non-discrimination and gender equality must be promoted in municipalities

It is the task of municipalities to promote gender equality in all their actions. Municipalities need to create and stabilize such administrative procedures and ways of action that ensure that women and men, girls and boys can participate in the preparation and decision-making of all questions. Gender impact analyses need to be made about the effects of the decisions as well as the municipal budgets.

All municipalities must draft the statutory equality plan and an extensive non-discriminatory plan. The realization of all equality also requires that elected officials and municipal employees are trained.

Apart from gender, age, health, physical disability, ethnic background, sexual identity or some other reason can be the basis for discrimination. All inhabitants in municipalities must be guaranteed the right to influence the preparatory stages as well as the decision-making. Municipalities have regrettably a lot of discrimination that is caused by indifference, budgetary under-resourcing or saving.

People in different life situations and special groups have special needs. The prevention of discrimination requires an open debate about people's diversity. The principles of equality and non-discrimination should guide all planning and decision-making.