Parliamentary elections in Finland ended on Sunday. The liberal-conservative National Alliance (KOK) won with 20.8 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party came third. “Congratulations to the Finns, democracy has spoken,” said the current head of government. “We have to bring Finland back to a good state, the goal is one thing: to put the Finnish economy in order,” said the leader of the winning coalition, Petteri Orpo, who is likely to become the new prime minister.
Polling stations across Finland were open from 9am to 8pm local time (7pm in Poland). However, Finnish citizens were able to vote a week early at the end of March. The premises were located in libraries, shopping malls or offices. About 4.5 million Finns were eligible to vote.
The National Alliance (KOK), with all votes counted, won the election with 20.8 percent. – A new government will be formed under our leadership – said coalition leader Petteri Orbo, who was the head of the Ministry of Interior and then the Ministry of Finance in 2015-2019. He advocates budget cuts and balance.
The leader of the winning coalition specifies the main goal
After Sunday’s victory, he said, “We have to bring Finland back to a good position, and the goal is the same: to get Finland’s economy in order.”
Long before the election, Orbo was tipped to be the next prime minister. His party – it was commented – was not only an alternative to the current leftist policy, but also thanks to the “NATO wave”. For decades, it was the only parliamentary group in favor of joining the alliance (in the coming days, Finland is to be officially admitted to NATO, which lasted less than a year). KOK will have 48 seats in the 200-member parliament.
The populist national-conservative Finns (PS) party came second in the election with only 20 percent of the vote. “This is our best decision,” said president Rika Burra. The party won more than 40 seats in Eduskunda for the first time. The leader of the Finns personally received the most votes in the entire country – more than 42,000, even ahead of the more popular Prime Minister Sanna Marin (more than 35,000).
Rika Burra (True Finns), Sanna Marin (Social Democratic Party) and Petteri Orbo (National Alliance)PAP/EPA/KIMMO brand
Sanna Marin: Democracy has spoken
Despite Prime Minister Marin’s personal popularity, her party – the Social Democratic Party – came third. 19.9 percent voted for SDP. Finns. This translates to 43 seats in Parliament.
“Congratulations to the winner of the election, congratulations to the National Alliance, congratulations to the Finns, democracy has spoken,” asserted Marin. The head of the Social Democratic Party pointed out that for many years the party of the head of government has received more votes than in the last elections. Four years ago, the Social Democratic Party won the election with 17.7 percent of the vote. Support (40 seats).
Sanna MarinaPAP/EPA/KIMMO brand
Commenting on preliminary election results that have already announced the defeat of the incumbent prime minister’s party, Reuters wrote that such results would “end the era of Sanna Marin, one of the world’s youngest leaders.” .”
The prime minister campaigned until the last moment, convincing Finns that electing a right-wing government would have dire consequences for the country. – Social democracy – we have a chance to choose a better option. I hope each of you will vote and urge your friends and family to do the same. You should vote for the Social Democrats, because if they don’t win the election, we’ll end up with a right-wing government that makes bad decisions for ordinary people.
A tense atmosphere prevailed in all the polling booths and the result remained uncertain till the votes were counted. Before the election, Finnish media predicted that even a few thousand votes would decide who the next prime minister would be.
Parliamentary elections in FinlandPAP/EPA/KIMMO brand
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/KIMMO brand