Crystal Party Explained

Crystal Party
Native Name:
Chairperson:Sanna Seesvalo
Leader1 Title:Vice chair
Leader1 Name:Juho Lahtinen
Secretary:Taina Alanen
Ideology:Spirituality
Vaccine hesitancy
Headquarters:Rinnekuja 6, 11100 Riihimäki
Founded:2014
Registered:2021
Country:Finland
Abbreviation:Kristall
Native Name Lang:Finnish
Position:Syncretic
Seats1 Title:Eduskunta
Seats3 Title:Municipalities
Seats4:
Seats4 Title:County seats

The Crystal Party (Finnish: Kristallipuolue, Swedish: Kristall Parti) is a Finnish party that was registered in 2021. The founding meeting of the association that would become the Crystal Party was held on 6 December 2013 by five people.[1] The association was registered in April 2014.[2] The association started gathering signatures in order to register as a political party and reached the required 5000 signatures in March 2021.[3]

Ideology

Upon registration, the party described itself to the Finnish register as follows:

The party rejects materialism and instead advocates that decisions should be "guided by the heart".[4] The party claims to be neither left nor right-wing.[3]

The party opposes vaccine mandates and espouses COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Its former chairperson, Juho Lyytikäinen, has called Bill Gates "world's most influential doctor" and claims that the pandemic is orchestrated by the World Health Organization. The party also believes that "Western" medicine is not enough to answer all the questions regarding modern health problems.[5] Instead, it supports "alternative medicine" like homeopathy and advocates for official recognition of such treatments.

Local representation

In 2020, a city councillor in Polvijärvi was expelled from the Social Democratic Party after denying the Holocaust.[6] She later founded a councillor group for the Crystal Party and thus became the party's first and so far only municipal councillor.[7]

The Crystal Party took part in its first elections during the 2021 municipal elections. The party won 6,285 votes (0.3% of overall share) at the national level. None of its candidates were elected.[8] One of the best-known candidates of the party was Maria Nordin, a controversial wellness coach.[9]

Election results

Parliament of Finland

References

  1. Web site: Tarina. live. 2021-06-14. Crystal Party. fi. https://web.archive.org/web/20210429170402/https://www.kristallipuolue.fi/tarina/ . 2021-04-29 .
  2. Web site: Kristallipuolue r.p., Kristall Parti r.p.. live. 2021-06-14. Kauppalehti. fi. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506214015/https://www.kauppalehti.fi/yritykset/yritys/kristallipuolue+r+p+kristall+parti+r+p/26905617 . 2021-05-06 .
  3. Web site: Tällaisia arvoja puoluerekisteriin noussut Kristallipuolue kannattaa . 2021-06-14 . Iltalehti . fi.
  4. Web site: The Crystal Party's website . 26 March 2023 . Finnish.
  5. Web site: 2021-06-12 . Kristallipuolue kannattaa vaihtoehtohoitoja ja kieltää koronan: "On etukäteen päätetty, että pandemia laitetaan pystyyn" . 2021-06-14 . MTV Uutiset . fi.
  6. Web site: Polvijärveläinen valtuutettu vähätteli holokaustia – kunta irtisanoutuu kirjoituksesta. 2021-06-14. Yle Uutiset. fi.
  7. Web site: 2020. UUSI VAIHE ALKAA!. live. 2021-06-14. Crystal Party. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210507123614/https://www.kristallipuolue.fi/blogi/2020/03/13/uusi-vaihe-alkaa/ . 2021-05-07 .
  8. Web site: Yle - Result service - Whole country - Municipal Elections 2021 . 2021-06-14 . vaalit.yle.fi . en.
  9. Web site: 2021-06-01. Kiistelty hyvinvointivalmentaja Maria Nordin ja "ideologisesti työtön" Ossi Nyman pyrkivät Helsingin päättäjiksi – Tällaista politiikkaa pienpuolueet ajavat. live. 2021-06-14. Helsingin Sanomat. fi. https://web.archive.org/web/20210531230324/https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/art-2000008004427.html . 2021-05-31 .