Finland prime minister ousted, conservatives win tight vote

National Coalition Chairman Petteri Orpo raises his arms in celebration.

By JARI TANNER

Associated Press

April 2, 2023 Updated 5:41 PM PT

HELSINKI — Finland’s main conservative party claimed victory in a parliamentary election Sunday in an extremely tight three-way race in which right-wing populists took second place, leaving Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party in third, dashing her hopes for reelection.

The center-right National Coalition Party claimed victory Sunday evening with all of the votes counted, coming out on top at 20.8%. It was followed by right-wing populist party the Finns with 20.1%; the Social Democrats garnered 19.9%.

With the top three parties each getting about 20% of the vote, none is in position to form a government alone. More than 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were vying for the 200 seats in the Nordic country’s parliament.

“Based on this result, talks over forming a new government to Finland will be initiated under the leadership of the National Coalition Party,” said the party’s leader, Petteri Orpo, at a celebration in the capital, Helsinki.

Marin, who at 37 is one of Europe’s youngest leaders, received praise for her center-left Cabinet’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and for her prominent role, along with President Sauli Niinisto, in advocating for Finland’s successful application to join NATO. Her vocal support of Ukraine in the last year has increased her international visibility.

The 53-year-old Orpo, Finland’s former finance minister and likely new prime minister, said the Nordic country’s solidarity with Kyiv would remain strong.

“First to Ukraine: We stand by you, with you,” he said at the victory event. “We cannot accept this terrible war. And we will do all that is needed to help Ukraine, Ukrainian people, because they fight for us. This is clear.”

“And the message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is: Go away from Ukraine because you will lose,” Orpo said.

Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, cleared the last hurdles of becoming a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member last week as alliance members Turkey and Hungary signed off on the country’s membership bid.

The National Coalition Party’s share of votes translates into 48 seats in the Eduskunta, Finland’s parliament, while the Finns, a nationalist party running largely on an anti-immigration and anti-European Union agenda, is to get 46 seats. Marin’s Social Democrats will have 43.

Observers say the result means a power shift in Finland’s political scene as the nation is now likely to get a new center-right government with nationalist tones.

Government formation talks led by the National Coalition Party are expected to start in the coming days with the goal of putting together a Cabinet enjoying a majority in parliament.

“I trust the Finnish tradition of negotiating with all parties, and trying to find the best possible majority government for Finland,” Orpo said.

“You know what is important for us?” Orpo said. “It’s that we are an active member of the European Union. We build up NATO-Finland, and we fix our economy. We boost our economic growth and create new jobs.”

The positions of Marin’s party on the Finnish economy emerged as a main campaign theme and were challenged by conservatives, who remain critical of the Social Democrats’ economic policies and are unlikely to partner with them.

Orpo had hammered on Finland’s growing government debt and the need to make budget cuts throughout the election. The National Coalition Party is open to cooperation with the Finns as the two parties largely share views on developing Finland’s economy, though they do have differences on climate policies and EU issues.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland to seek NATO membership in May 2022, neither the historic decision to abandon the nation’s nonalignment policy nor the war emerged as major campaign issues as there was a large consensus on the membership among parties, along with high public support.

The initial voter turnout in the country of 5.5 million was 71.9%, slightly down from the 2019 election.