Sanna Marin admits defeat in Finland: Conservatives approach government and far-right grows

The right wing won this Sunday General elections in Finland and will replace the Social Democrats led by the outgoing Prime Minister, Sanna MarinAfter a very close vote, the ultranationalists could achieve a record result and enter the next government.

“It’s a big win,” he celebrated Petteri OrboThe 53-year-old former minister and leader of the National Alliance won the election to cheers from his supporters.

“We are about to start negotiations to form a government in FinlandArbo added Marin’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) or Rika Burra’s anti-immigration, Eurosceptic Finns party have options to form a left-wing coalition..

The centre-right party came out on top, according to almost final results after 98% of the votes were counted 48 out of 200 seats in ParliamentAhead of the victorious party of Finns 46 Places and social democrats, who took 43.

Despite performing better than in 2019 and being Finland’s most popular prime minister according to opinion polls, the victory did not give Marin enough seats in parliament.

The outgoing prime minister became the world’s youngest head of government at the age of 34. He admitted his defeat this Sunday: “Congratulations to the winner of the election, congratulations to the National Alliance, congratulations to the Finns Party, democracy has spoken”, he said.

“He has made us proud. Before people laughed at us, we were considered an old-school party,” said Mo Shimer, a 26-year-old SDP activist.

The 71.9% turnout in Sunday’s election was similar to previous elections in 2019.

Traditionally, The formation with the most support among the eight main parties in parliament usually claims the post of prime minister and tries to form a government.. Since the 1990s, the party has always held the position of prime minister.

The difference between the three parties was minimal: 20.8% for the centre-right, 20.1% for the far-right and 19.9% ​​for Marin’s SDP.

“Finland! Finland!” Radical nationalist leader Rika Burra He congratulated his followers for the “best election result” in the history of the Nationalist Party.

Established over 20 years in Finnish political life, the far-right has broken its record of 19.05% since 2011.

Finland, with 5.5 million people, is riding a wave of nationalism sweeping Europe after conservatives swept to power in neighboring Sweden and the far-right triumph in Italy.

Set to take office as the new prime minister after Sunday’s election victory, Petteri Orbo is a staunch defender of budgetary austerity, his top priority.

Already an unofficial member of the “stingers” or “stingers” club in Finland, which worries about budget austerity in EU countries, his arrival could spark some sparks in a moment of paradigm shift with other partners in Brussels. cost.

“The most important thing (…) is that we stop increasing the debt,” he told AFP on the sidelines of his campaign.

Forming a government traditionally takes weeks or even months, so Marin will have to act in the interim when Finland officially joins NATO next week.

The election did not change anything from the point of view of the military coalition: all major parties, including The Finns, are now in favor of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(With information from AFP/By Marc Briel and Elias Huhtanen)

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