Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat in the country's parliamentary election, a closely contested contest won by the right-wing National Coalition Party (NCP). The NCP, led by Petteri Orpo, claimed victory with 48 seats out of 200, narrowly ahead of the nationalist Finns Party and Marin's Social Democrats.
Orpo vowed to "fix Finland" and its economy in his speech to supporters. As the leader of the winning party, he will have the first chance at forming a coalition government to secure an overall majority. Marin's era as prime minister appears to be coming to an end, having been in office since 2019.
Marin herself acknowledged that her party had not performed well enough to govern alone and expressed hope for cooperation with the NCP. However, she also stated that her Social Democrats would not join forces with the Finns Party, which Orpo has described as "openly racist".
Sanna Marin, who became Finland's youngest prime minister at just 34 years old when she took office in 2019, had been under increasing pressure due to criticism over lavish spending and partying. Her government's policies on pensions and education were seen as too generous by some conservatives.
The NCP has promised austerity measures to curb public debt, which has risen sharply since Marin's arrival in office. Orpo accused Marin of eroding Finland's economic resilience at a time when the country is facing an energy crisis driven by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Finland's foreign policy has been another area where Marin has sought to assert her mark. She led the push for NATO membership, along with President Sauli Niinisto, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The accession process is now almost complete, with Helsinki expected to join within days.
As the dust settles on Finland's parliamentary election, attention will turn to Orpo's plans to form a government and tackle the country's economic challenges. With Marin's Social Democrats struggling to make an impact, it remains to be seen how she will navigate her own party's internal divisions in the coming months.
Orpo vowed to "fix Finland" and its economy in his speech to supporters. As the leader of the winning party, he will have the first chance at forming a coalition government to secure an overall majority. Marin's era as prime minister appears to be coming to an end, having been in office since 2019.
Marin herself acknowledged that her party had not performed well enough to govern alone and expressed hope for cooperation with the NCP. However, she also stated that her Social Democrats would not join forces with the Finns Party, which Orpo has described as "openly racist".
Sanna Marin, who became Finland's youngest prime minister at just 34 years old when she took office in 2019, had been under increasing pressure due to criticism over lavish spending and partying. Her government's policies on pensions and education were seen as too generous by some conservatives.
The NCP has promised austerity measures to curb public debt, which has risen sharply since Marin's arrival in office. Orpo accused Marin of eroding Finland's economic resilience at a time when the country is facing an energy crisis driven by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Finland's foreign policy has been another area where Marin has sought to assert her mark. She led the push for NATO membership, along with President Sauli Niinisto, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The accession process is now almost complete, with Helsinki expected to join within days.
As the dust settles on Finland's parliamentary election, attention will turn to Orpo's plans to form a government and tackle the country's economic challenges. With Marin's Social Democrats struggling to make an impact, it remains to be seen how she will navigate her own party's internal divisions in the coming months.
I'm not exactly surprised by this result, to be honest... I mean, Finland's economy has been in a bit of a mess for ages 
. I guess Petteri Orpo's promise to "fix" things is just a nice way of saying he'll try to balance the books without making too many radical changes 
. And I have to wonder how Sanna Marin expects to recover from this if her own party can't even get 100 seats 
. Not to mention the whole energy crisis thing... will Orpo really be able to manage that better than Marin? It's a tough act to follow, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see 
.
- u no how hard it can be 2 deal w/ criticism & pressure from teachers/pupils n stuff? sanna marin went thru that n still managed 2 b a great pm but now she's out n orpo's in... i wonder wha' he'll do diff w/ education policies 
- hope orpo can tackle those probs & make finland's economy more stable 
and making finland a more inclusive country for all folks 
but maybe she didnt do enough to address the economy and stuff 
and not just pander to the conservatives 
it's gonna be interesting to see how he navigates coalition gov with the ncp & trying to fix finland's economic mess. hope marin can stay on as minister of... whatever tho 
. Austerity measures can be tough for people, especially those on lower incomes.
so what's gonna happen now? 
Russia's war in Ukraine is still raging and Finland needs to figure out a way to deal with it. This election was all about austerity measures, but I don't see how that's gonna help anything. 
only time will tell if Orpo can lead Finland out of this mess or if things just get worse. 
. That kind of rhetoric usually leads to some serious austerity measures and possibly even hurt some vulnerable groups 
. And with Marin's Social Democrats not joining forces with the Finns Party, it's going to be interesting to see how cooperation works out 
. With Russia's war in Ukraine still ongoing and the energy crisis looming, I hope Orpo's government can navigate these challenges without exacerbating things 
anyway, it'll be interesting to see how orpo forms his coalition government and tackles the country's challenges