Finnish conservatives have to choose between the far right and the social democrats

Finland faces a complex post-election panorama that has launched two main opposition parties, the conservatives and the far-right, and is forcing negotiations to begin this Monday on the formation of a coalition executive. The leader of the conservative Kokoomus party, Petteri Orpo, who wants to be the next prime minister, said after winning the election that he would examine all parties to form a strong coalition that enjoys a solid majority in the Eduskunta (parliament).

To do so, due to the usual fragmentation of the vote, she will have to reach agreements with at least two other parties and decide whether to join the extreme right or the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

A third government partner could be the liberal Center Party, the country’s fourth-largest political force, although its options are not particularly good after its worst election result in its history on Sunday. Its leader, Finance Minister Annikka Saarikko, said on Monday that her party will go into opposition after this heavy defeat because that is what the people want, which will complicate the equation for forming a majority government.

economic reforms

Analysts agree that the weak economic situation in the country and the loss of purchasing power of citizens due to inflation are key to explaining the victory of the right-wing opposition in these elections. With the economy in a mild recession, inflation that has risen sharply to 8% and public debt equal to 73% of GDP (8.1 points more than at the beginning of the convocation), the priority of the conservatives is the implementation of economic reforms and the application of strong cuts.

“For us, there is a key issue, which is that all parties of the next government commit to reforming and fixing our economy,” said Orpo. To achieve this, the Conservatives are pushing for a reduction in the tax burden and a budget adjustment of 6,000 million euros over the next four years, by reducing public spending and increasing productivity and the employment rate.

Marin will not support the cuts

On this issue, the Kokoomus party is closer to the extreme right than Sanna Marin’s social democrats, who have insisted they will not be part of a coalition that cuts education, health or social benefits for the most vulnerable.

Some analysts point out that it may be difficult to find more partners among the smaller parties because their popularity would suffer if they support the coming cuts.

The far-right True Finns party led by Riikka Purra is, a priori, the main candidate for the formation of the Executive Power with the conservatives, with whom they already governed two convocations ago. Both formations share a similar vision in economic matters and are committed to solving the debt by applying the necessary cuts. They also almost unanimously supported Finland’s membership in NATO.