Finland's opposition National Coalition Party wins parliamentary elections

Finland's opposition National Coalition Party emerged as the largest party in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday, according to preliminary results reported by Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

With all votes counted, the National Coalition Party won 48 seats in parliament, an increase of 10 from four years ago, followed by the Finns Party with 46 seats, an increase of seven. The Social Democratic Party, the leading party in the current Finnish coalition chaired by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, won 43 seats, an increase of three.

Voter turnout was 71.9 percent, slightly lower than in 2019.

Commenting on the result, National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo said it was an important win for the party, and he was confident that the formation of a new government would begin under his leadership.

Orpo was first elected to parliament in 2007 and has previously served as a finance, interior and agriculture minister. Considered a pragmatic leader who listens and aims to be inclusive, Orpo took over the party leadership in 2016 when he unseated former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, who had suffered an election defeat the previous year.

Marin congratulated the National Coalition Party and Finns Party on their election results, and said that she was also satisfied with the performance of her party.

In a major change, medium-sized parties suffered losses: the Center Party lost eight seats, the Greens lost seven, and the Left Alliance party lost five.

Orpo did not reveal the possible composition of the upcoming ruling coalition, but said that the new government's priority would be to fix the country's economy.

The election campaigns focused mainly on economic and welfare issues. The National Coalition Party, in particular, underlined the need to balance the state budget and reduce the need for new debt.

Commentators noted that the formation talks of a coalition government could take some time as the combined seats of the two right-wing parties, the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party, still fell short of a parliamentary majority and would require support from smaller parties.

The election result will be officially confirmed on Wednesday, and the new parliament will commence work next week.

(AFP)