SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Social Democratic Party SDP chair and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks to members of the international media at Pikkuparlamentti during an official election event following the Finnish parliamentary elections on April 2, 2023 in Helsinki.
(Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
Progressive PM Sanna Marin Falls as Right-Wing Coalition Wins in Finland
Finland appeared headed for "a new center-right government with nationalist tones," according to political observers.
Apr 03, 2023
Finland's progressive Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat as her ruling social democratic party fell after two right-wing parties both won more seats in parliament in national elections on Sunday.
The National Coalition Party (NCP), which campaigned on cutting government spending and reducing the national debt, won 20.8% of the vote, while the nationalist, anti-immigration Finns Party won 20.1%.
Marin's Social Democratic Party (SDP) was supported by 19.9% of voters, but the outgoing prime minister noted in her concession speech that the party won three more seats in Eduskunta, the Finnish parliament.
" Democracy has spoken," Marin said. "We have gained support, we have gained more seats. That is an excellent achievement, even if we did not finish first today."
The NCP now holds 48 seats in the parliament while the Finns have 46. The SDP holds 43 seats.
Petteri Orpo, the leader of the NDP, is now tasked with forming a new government and is considered likely to work closely with the Finns and its leader, Riikka Purra.
"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," reported Al Jazeera.
Marin has served as prime minister since 2019 and has won praise from progressives around the world for leading the country through the Covid pandemic by promptly invoking the Emergency Powers Act to boost healthcare and social welfare spending and for her vocal support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion last year.
The prime minister has also been a strong supporter of Finland's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is expected to be finalized on Tuesday.
"Sanna Marin, like Jacinda Ardern, will be missed in global politics," peace and conflict research professor Ashok Swain of Sweden's Uppsala University told CNBC, referring to New Zealand's former progressive prime minister.
The Finns—with whom Orpo has expressed a willingness to cooperate despite Purra's opposition to Finland's 2035 target for carbon neutrality and to immigration, including work-based immigration to help fill job vacancies—have advocated for leaving the European Union and have been condemned as "openly racist" by Marin.
Both right-wing parties have been critical of public spending under Marin, including funding for education and pensions. Marin has argued that heavy spending to fund the country's health service, schools, and social welfare programs are crucial for economic growth, and the United Nations' annual World Happiness Report has found Finland to be the happiest country in the world for six years in a row, with researchers pointing to the government's capacity for delivering a wide range of public services as a contributing factor.
"Everybody has access to the basics," one Finnish woman, Liisi Hatinen told The Washington Post of Finland's success in the annual study last year. "These programs are well thought out and work."
Finland's elections were the latest in a European country to usher in a right-wing government recently. Far-right Christian and xenophobic parties formed a coalition in Sweden after elections last September and promptly shut down the country's environmental ministry, and Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, a party with fascist roots, became Italy's prime minister last fall.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Finland's progressive Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat as her ruling social democratic party fell after two right-wing parties both won more seats in parliament in national elections on Sunday.
The National Coalition Party (NCP), which campaigned on cutting government spending and reducing the national debt, won 20.8% of the vote, while the nationalist, anti-immigration Finns Party won 20.1%.
Marin's Social Democratic Party (SDP) was supported by 19.9% of voters, but the outgoing prime minister noted in her concession speech that the party won three more seats in Eduskunta, the Finnish parliament.
" Democracy has spoken," Marin said. "We have gained support, we have gained more seats. That is an excellent achievement, even if we did not finish first today."
The NCP now holds 48 seats in the parliament while the Finns have 46. The SDP holds 43 seats.
Petteri Orpo, the leader of the NDP, is now tasked with forming a new government and is considered likely to work closely with the Finns and its leader, Riikka Purra.
"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," reported Al Jazeera.
Marin has served as prime minister since 2019 and has won praise from progressives around the world for leading the country through the Covid pandemic by promptly invoking the Emergency Powers Act to boost healthcare and social welfare spending and for her vocal support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion last year.
The prime minister has also been a strong supporter of Finland's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is expected to be finalized on Tuesday.
"Sanna Marin, like Jacinda Ardern, will be missed in global politics," peace and conflict research professor Ashok Swain of Sweden's Uppsala University told CNBC, referring to New Zealand's former progressive prime minister.
The Finns—with whom Orpo has expressed a willingness to cooperate despite Purra's opposition to Finland's 2035 target for carbon neutrality and to immigration, including work-based immigration to help fill job vacancies—have advocated for leaving the European Union and have been condemned as "openly racist" by Marin.
Both right-wing parties have been critical of public spending under Marin, including funding for education and pensions. Marin has argued that heavy spending to fund the country's health service, schools, and social welfare programs are crucial for economic growth, and the United Nations' annual World Happiness Report has found Finland to be the happiest country in the world for six years in a row, with researchers pointing to the government's capacity for delivering a wide range of public services as a contributing factor.
"Everybody has access to the basics," one Finnish woman, Liisi Hatinen told The Washington Post of Finland's success in the annual study last year. "These programs are well thought out and work."
Finland's elections were the latest in a European country to usher in a right-wing government recently. Far-right Christian and xenophobic parties formed a coalition in Sweden after elections last September and promptly shut down the country's environmental ministry, and Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, a party with fascist roots, became Italy's prime minister last fall.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Finland's progressive Prime Minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat as her ruling social democratic party fell after two right-wing parties both won more seats in parliament in national elections on Sunday.
The National Coalition Party (NCP), which campaigned on cutting government spending and reducing the national debt, won 20.8% of the vote, while the nationalist, anti-immigration Finns Party won 20.1%.
Marin's Social Democratic Party (SDP) was supported by 19.9% of voters, but the outgoing prime minister noted in her concession speech that the party won three more seats in Eduskunta, the Finnish parliament.
" Democracy has spoken," Marin said. "We have gained support, we have gained more seats. That is an excellent achievement, even if we did not finish first today."
The NCP now holds 48 seats in the parliament while the Finns have 46. The SDP holds 43 seats.
Petteri Orpo, the leader of the NDP, is now tasked with forming a new government and is considered likely to work closely with the Finns and its leader, Riikka Purra.
"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," reported Al Jazeera.
Marin has served as prime minister since 2019 and has won praise from progressives around the world for leading the country through the Covid pandemic by promptly invoking the Emergency Powers Act to boost healthcare and social welfare spending and for her vocal support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion last year.
The prime minister has also been a strong supporter of Finland's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is expected to be finalized on Tuesday.
"Sanna Marin, like Jacinda Ardern, will be missed in global politics," peace and conflict research professor Ashok Swain of Sweden's Uppsala University told CNBC, referring to New Zealand's former progressive prime minister.
The Finns—with whom Orpo has expressed a willingness to cooperate despite Purra's opposition to Finland's 2035 target for carbon neutrality and to immigration, including work-based immigration to help fill job vacancies—have advocated for leaving the European Union and have been condemned as "openly racist" by Marin.
Both right-wing parties have been critical of public spending under Marin, including funding for education and pensions. Marin has argued that heavy spending to fund the country's health service, schools, and social welfare programs are crucial for economic growth, and the United Nations' annual World Happiness Report has found Finland to be the happiest country in the world for six years in a row, with researchers pointing to the government's capacity for delivering a wide range of public services as a contributing factor.
"Everybody has access to the basics," one Finnish woman, Liisi Hatinen told The Washington Post of Finland's success in the annual study last year. "These programs are well thought out and work."
Finland's elections were the latest in a European country to usher in a right-wing government recently. Far-right Christian and xenophobic parties formed a coalition in Sweden after elections last September and promptly shut down the country's environmental ministry, and Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, a party with fascist roots, became Italy's prime minister last fall.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.