Finland’s Social Democrats win slim victory as far right surges

HELSINKI: Finland’s leftist Social Democrats won a razorthin victory in Sunday’s general election, holding off the far-right Finns Party which surged on an anti-immigration agenda.

With 100 percent of ballots counted, the Social Democrats, led by 56-year-old former trade union boss Antti Rinne, picked up 40 seats in parliament, after campaigning on a ticket of fierce opposition to the austerity imposed by the previous centre-right government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

Meanwhile the Finns Party, which won 39 seats, had focused almost entirely on an antiimmigration agenda under the leadership of hardline MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who also decried the “climate hysteria” of the other parties.

Only 0.2 percentage points separated the two parties – in a heavily splintered political landscape where the Social Democrats were the biggest party with 17.7 per cent of votes.

They will head a government for the first time in 16 years, though it has been a junior coalition member since then.

The Finns Party has seen a surge in support in recent months, urging people to “Vote for some borders” and pledging to reduce Finland’s asylum intake to “almost zero”.

It more than doubled its presence in parliament, from 17 seats to 39, and regained all of the ground it lost when more than half of Finns Party MPs fled the party in 2017 on the election of hardline leader Jussi Halla-aho.

During the campaign, most parties expressed strong reservations about sharing a government platform with Hallaaho’s party, while stopping short of ruling it out entirely.

Finnish governments are typically a coalition of three or four parties that form the minimum 101-seat majority in parliament.

The Social Democrats’ Antti Rinne has previously said his party would find it “very difficult” to enter a coalition with the Finns Party.

But after declaring victory on Sunday, Rinne did not rule out a collaboration, saying he “has questions” for the party.

“Some of the questions will be about values,” Rinne told Finnish media.

“The Social Democratic Party’s values are very important, it’s the glue that will hold the government together.”

Rinne could also choose to form a coalition with the conservative National Coalition party, which came in third with 38 seats. — AFP