The Finns have elected a new parliament. The Conservatives got more votes than the party of incumbent Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
After the parliamentary elections in Finland, the Social Democrats of Prime Minister Sanna Marin (37) are no longer the strongest force in parliament. Despite gains, the party was only in third place after almost all votes were counted late on Sunday evening, behind the conservative National Coalition Party and the right-wing populist party The Finns. Ex-Finance Minister Petteri Orpo’s conservatives were on the verge of a narrow election victory and 48 of the 200 mandates. The Finns party had 46 mandates, Marin’s Social Democrats 43. Finland is therefore on the verge of a change of government.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has admitted the defeat of her Social Democrats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. “Congratulations to the election winner, congratulations to the national coalition, congratulations to the party The Finns. Democracy has spoken,” said the 37-year-old head of government in the evening in front of supporters of her party.
Marin told supporters that the ruling party had made gains for the first time in a long time. “We did well,” she said. “Democracy has spoken.”
Head-to-head race like in 2019
A neck-and-neck race between Marin’s Social Democrats, Orpo’s conservative National Coalition Party and Purra’s right-wing populist party The Finns had been announced. Polls put the three close together ahead of election Sunday, with the Conservatives marginally ahead. In the last parliamentary election in 2019, the three parties were separated by less than one percentage point.
The Social Democrats narrowly won the election under Marin’s predecessor, Antti Rinne. Rinne resigned after just under half a year in office in a dispute with the most important coalition partner, the Center Party. Marin became his successor at the end of 2019.
The conservatives are led by the experienced leader of the opposition, Petteri Orpo – the 53-year-old used to be Finland’s finance minister, among other things, and put economic issues at the center of his election campaign. Riikka Purra has been the leader of the right-wing populist, national-conservative Finns party since 2021. Purra’s most important topic is a strict immigration policy, and EU skepticism and a softening of Finland’s climate goals resonate again and again.
Sanna Marin has been Prime Minister of Finland since the end of 2019. Since then she has become one of the most sought-after politicians within the EU. The 37-year-old Social Democrat leads a five-party centre-left coalition. Many Finns value her as a young, modern and powerful leader.
Your government first led the northernmost country in the EU through the corona pandemic and then, together with President Sauli Niinistö, through the NATO accession process, which will be completed shortly: all 30 current alliance members have now agreed to the admission of the Finns in a few days According to NATO, Finland is officially the 31st member of the defense alliance.
Difficult coalition negotiations expected
This time long and tough coalition negotiations are expected. Several parties have ruled out cooperation with the right-wing populists, including Marin. For a majority, the winner of the election is likely to depend on one other of the large parties and at least one of the medium-sized and smaller parties.
In May 2022, under the impression of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Finland had applied for NATO membership together with Sweden. With Turkey, the last of the 30 NATO countries has now also ratified Finland’s accession. In the next few days, Finland is to officially become the 31st member of the defense alliance. However, joining NATO played no role in the election campaign. Instead, the main focus was on domestic issues such as the state budget.
