Sanna Marin admitted defeat. “Congratulations to the election winner, congratulations to the National Coalition, congratulations to the Party of Finns, democracy has spoken,” she said.
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Posted on 4/3/2023 7:00 AM Updated on 4/3/2023 7:50 AM
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Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks after her defeat in the general elections in Helsinki April 2, 2023. (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The centre-right leader has won the general elections in Finland and is set to replace outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin. “It’s a great victory,” said Petteri Orpo, a 53-year-old former minister, on Sunday April 2. “We will start negotiations for a government in Finland,” said the man, who now has the opportunity to forge a left-wing alliance with Sanna Marin or with the party of Finns, anti-immigrants and Eurosceptics. After almost final results with more than 98% of the votes, the National Coalition Party won with 48 of the 200 seats in Parliament ahead of the Party of Finns (46) and the Social Democrats (43).
The extreme right could thus enter the government of this Nordic country of 5.5 million people. With “Finland! Finland!’ shouts, Party of Finns leader Riikka Purra congratulated her supporters on the ‘best election result’ in the history of the nationalist party.
Sanna Marin had gained worldwide fame
Despite progress in the 2019 elections, Sanna Marin admitted defeat. “Congratulations to the election winner, congratulations to the National Coalition, congratulations to the Party of Finns, democracy has spoken,” she said.
Popular both abroad and in Finland, Sanna Marin has established herself as a “rock star” prime minister, but she is more divided in her country, where she has been criticized for the state of public finances and inflation. However, the world’s youngest leader when she came to power in late 2019 was hailed for her good management of the Covid-19 pandemic and the NATO accession process, as well as her positions towards neighboring Russia.
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