Finland will change its political direction. The leader of the center-right won the legislative elections on Sunday and must replace outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin, after a very tight ballot where the nationalists, who could enter the government, reached a record.
“It’s a great victory,” said Petteri Orpo, a 53-year-old former minister, to the cheers of his supporters. “We are going to start negotiations for a government in Finland”, declared the one who now has the possibility of forging an alliance to the left with Sanna Marin or with the anti-immigration and eurosceptic party of the Finns of Riikka Purra.
Sanna Marin admits defeat
According to near-definitive results involving more than 98% of the vote, the National Coalition party comes out on top with 48 of the 200 seats in Parliament, ahead of the Finns party (46) and the Social Democrats (43). Despite progress from the 2019 elections, Sanna Marin admitted defeat. “Congratulations to the winner of the elections, congratulations to the National Coalition, congratulations to the Finns party, democracy has spoken,” she said.
The party candidate who arrives first traditionally inherits the post of Prime Minister in Finland, provided that he can muster a majority in Parliament. But the differences in votes are tenuous: 20.8% for the centre-right, 20.1% for the extreme right, and 19.9% for the SDP of Sanna Marin.
Nothing should change with NATO
Greeted with cries of “Finland!” Finland! “, Riikka Purra congratulated herself in front of her supporters on the “best electoral result” in the history of the nationalist party. The 45-year-old leader even offered herself the luxury of winning the largest number of votes for her name, with around 38,000 against 35,000 for the popular Sanna Marin.
These legislative elections in this country of 5.5 million inhabitants coincide with the official entry of the country bordering Russia into NATO, expected in the coming days. However, the election does not change anything from the point of view of the military alliance: all the major parties, including the Finns, are now in favor of it since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.