Home ›› 03 Apr 2023 ›› News
Finns cast their ballots in legislative elections Sunday that could see the country take a sharp turn to the right, as centre-right and anti-immigration parties vie to unseat the Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
After the breakthrough by nationalists in neighbouring Sweden and the far right’s victory in Italy last year, Finland could become the latest country to join the nationalist wave in Europe. Final results are due around midnight (2100 GMT).
The vote comes just days ahead of Finland’s formal accession to the NATO defence alliance, with worries about neighbouring Russia surging with its war against Ukraine.
But Marin and her Social Democratic Party (SDP) have lost their lustre since she took office in 2019 as the world’s youngest prime minister at age 34. “The polls show that the more right-wing political trend in Finland is gaining strength,” Juho Rahkonen from the E2 research institute told AFP.
The latest survey Thursday by public broadcaster Yle showed the SDP in third place with a projected 18.7 per cent of the vote.
The centre-right National Coalition held a thin lead at 19.8 per cent, with the nationalist and eurosceptic Finns Party in second place at 19.5 per cent.
“We have had a great campaign. We have the best candidates all over Finland and we are first in the polls, so I’m optimistic,” National Coalition leader Petteri Orpo told AFP at a campaign rally on Saturday.
Marin is Finland’s most popular prime minister this century, according to polls, and has made headlines internationally for her hard line against Finland’s eastern neighbour Russia.
