- The party's thinking starts from human dignity: everyone deserves the opportunity for a safe and meaningful life regardless of their background
- Stability is a fundamental political virtue, as long-term decision-making carries further than constant changes of direction
- Community is built in everyday life — in families, workplaces, hobbies and neighbourhoods — and these structures must be consciously strengthened
- Pragmatism guides action: solutions are evaluated by their effectiveness, not by ideological purity
- Trust is society's most important resource, and its erosion threatens democracy. Building trust requires action at every level
Party Programme
The vision of Sillanrakentajat for a better Finland: with moderation, deliberation and perseverance.
Download party programme (PDF)
Introduction
Finland is living through an era where slowly developing structural changes and sudden crises intertwine. The population is ageing, public finances are accumulating debt, the security environment is in flux and trust in institutions is wavering.
Sillanrakentajat wants to bring long-term thinking to politics: lasting solutions that build bridges between people, regions and generations. We don't promise quick fixes, but we promise what is essential: the use of reason, deliberation and practical solutions for Finland's future.
Key Programme Points
- Finland's public finances are structurally imbalanced, as the ageing population increases expenditure while the tax base narrows
- Debt accumulation must be stopped without sacrificing future investments: education, research and infrastructure are not costs but prerequisites for growth
- The foundation of economic growth lies in improving productivity, which comes from competence, technology and functioning labour markets
- The funding base of the welfare state must be secured through structural reforms that extend beyond government terms
- Economic policy must be predictable so that businesses dare to invest and citizens can plan their future
- Comprehensive school is Finland's success story, but learning outcome gaps are growing. Equality must be restored by strengthening support and teaching quality
- Vocational education reform has gone too far: contact teaching must be increased and the role of teachers strengthened
- University funding must be stable and long-term so that research and teaching can develop without constant uncertainty
- Skills become outdated faster than ever, and lifelong learning structures need flexibility and concrete pathways for retraining
- Changes in working life require a balance between flexibility and security. Labour peace and predictability benefit both employees and employers
- The health centre system is the cornerstone of primary healthcare, and its deterioration shifts pressure to specialist care and increases costs
- The mental health crisis is one of Finland's most overlooked problems: access to treatment must be accelerated and low-threshold services brought to schools and workplaces
- The nursing shortage is solved by improving working conditions, pay equity and the attractiveness of the profession, not just by recruitment
- In child protection and family services, early support is always cheaper and more humane than late intervention
- Dignity must be ensured in elderly care: everyone must be able to age with dignity regardless of their place of residence or wealth
- Immigration policy must be strict, selective and honest about its limits. The Danish and Japanese models offer examples
- An indebted Finland cannot sustain the current type of immigration policy, and the number of arrivals must match the system's capacity
- Integration requirements must be tightened: language skills, employment and societal attachment are prerequisites, not wishes
- Every euro spent on ineffective integration is taken from Finnish elderly, families with children and the sick
- Humane immigration policy recognises its limits and commits to helping in the best possible way within those limits
- The police is one of Finland's most trusted institutions, but resource shortages threaten this trust. Response times are lengthening and crime clearance rates declining
- The police's scope has expanded to include street gangs, youth violence and social media-organised disturbances, and resources must keep up
- Insecurity often arises from disorder, not just crime. Police presence in schools, neighbourhoods and public spaces restores a sense of safety
- Prevention is the most effective security policy: the root causes of youth malaise, substance abuse and marginalisation must be addressed
- Cooperation between the police, customs, border guard and defence forces is essential as the line between internal and external threats blurs
- Finland's regions are not competitors but partners, and one region's success does not come at the expense of another
- The motorway network (E18, E12, E75) and highways 5, 6 and 9 are the arteries of the economy, and underfunding their maintenance is reflected in safety and business costs
- Rail transport is simultaneously regional, climate and energy policy, and its development requires a decades-long perspective
- Remote work and digitalisation open new opportunities, but only if telecommunications connections and services work in rural areas too
- Regional policy is not subsidies to compensate the weak, but strengthening structures so regions can grow on their own
- The Baltic Sea is Finland's defining issue: a shallow, vulnerable and polluted sea requires determined protection and cross-border cooperation
- The energy transition requires realism: nuclear, wind, solar, hydro and small modular reactors form a combination that secures both supply and the climate
- Forest policy must recognise both the significance of the forest industry for Finland's economy and the necessity of protection. Sustainable forestry is not a contradiction
- The decline of biodiversity in forests, agricultural environments and waterways affects pollination, water quality and the entire ecosystem
- Environmental policy should not create conflicts between the economy and nature. Cleantech and the circular economy are Finland's economic opportunity
- Housing has transformed from a symbol of stability to a source of uncertainty due to high costs, interest rate fluctuations and declining construction
- Ensuring affordable housing is an economic policy issue: the workforce moves to where housing is possible
- Urban spaces must be pleasant, safe and functional. Excessively dense building must not be an end in itself at the expense of spaciousness and quality of life
- The coexistence of different housing types must be ensured: owner-occupied, rental, shared ownership and communal solutions
- Cities must not become divided into thriving and marginalised areas. Diversity of neighbourhoods and equal availability of services prevent segregation
- Culture and civility are society's memory and direction. They are not leisure content but part of the national backbone
- The cultural sector needs stable and long-term funding, as the value of art often only becomes apparent decades later
- Finnish, Finland-Swedish and Sámi languages carry cultural continuity, and their status must be deliberately safeguarded
- Gaming culture, digital art and online communities are young people's key forms of expression and a growing economic sector
- Civility is the antidote to populism and black-and-white thinking. The ability to think critically and understand history is a prerequisite for democracy
- Digitalisation is a societal transformation. Used correctly, it improves services and democracy; misused, it increases discrimination and inequality
- Data is a societal resource: the public sector's information systems must communicate with each other and data must benefit research and services
- Artificial intelligence is changing decision-making, services and security. People must know when algorithms affect their lives
- Cybersecurity is not just a technical issue but part of national security: attacks can paralyse power grids, hospitals and banks
- Not everyone keeps up with development naturally. Digital skills are a civic skill, and services must also work for those unfamiliar with the digital world
- Finland's R&D spending has fallen behind competitor countries, and the lack of innovation weakens productivity and long-term competitiveness
- Barriers to entrepreneurship are too high: heavy regulation, uncertainty and complex rules limit the creation and growth of new businesses
- Entrepreneurs bear risks that benefit the whole society. Social security, sick leave and holidays must be sustainable for entrepreneurs too
- Too many innovations are born in research institutions but never reach the market. Cooperation between research and business needs reform
- Economic growth is not a goal in itself but a means: it enables the services, security and wellbeing from which everyone benefits
- Agriculture is the foundation of supply security. Without a functioning production capacity, Finland cannot ensure food supply in emergencies
- Many farms operate at a loss or break-even, and structurally improving profitability is essential for the entire sector's future
- Finnish agriculture produces some of the world's purest food under exceptionally demanding conditions, and it cannot be measured by Central European criteria
- Self-sufficiency is not just about food: the capacity to produce energy, fertilisers, seeds and feed is critical in times of crisis
- The countryside is not a relic of the past but a resource for the future. Without people and services in rural areas, there are no producers and no supply security
- NATO membership is an additional layer of protection, but Finland must still be able to defend its own territory. National defence remains the foundation
- Universal conscription, the size of the reserve and territorial defence give Finland an exceptionally strong defence capability relative to its size
- The modern threat picture exceeds the boundaries of traditional warfare: hybrid influence, cyberattacks and disinformation require whole-of-society resilience
- The EU is the central arena of Finland's foreign policy, and cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic countries is now more important than ever
- Energy self-sufficiency is part of the foreign policy security strategy, and Finland must not be dependent on geopolitically uncertain energy sources
- Taxation is a value choice: it tells what kind of society we want to build. It must combine fairness, competitiveness and simplicity
- Balancing public finances cannot be achieved by sudden cuts or endless borrowing; it requires a long-term strategy
- The focus of taxation is too heavily on labour and consumption. The system must be reformed to encourage work and entrepreneurship
- Tax evasion and harmful tax planning must be combated effectively, as they undermine the fairness of the system
- Citizens accept taxation only if they feel they get value in return: the quality of services, the efficiency of administration and the transparency of decisions determine trust