Finland’s parliamentary election on Sunday saw the main conservative party claim victory in a fiercely triangular contest, leaving the right-wing faction second and Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party third, dashing Marin’s re-election hopes.
The centrist-right-wing National Coalition Party (NCP) claimed victory after all rounds of counting on Sunday evening and topped with 20.8 per cent votes.
The right-wing Populist Party came second after the NCP with 20.1 percent of the vote, while the Socialist Democratic Party came third with 19.9 percent. With all the three parties getting close to 20 per cent votes, no party is in a position to form the government on its own. More than 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were in the fray for 200 seats in the country’s parliamentary elections.
“Based on this result, talks will be started under the leadership of the National Coalition party to form a new government in Finland,” the party’s elected leader Petteri Orpo told supporters in the capital Helsinki.
Marin (37), one of Europe’s youngest leaders, has won international acclaim for her outspoken support of Ukraine and for successfully advocating Finland’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with President Sauli Niinisto. The level has been greatly appreciated. Orpo, 53, Finland’s former finance minister and likely new prime minister, assured that the country’s solidarity with Kiev would remain strong during his term.
