Sanna Marin’s time as prime minister of Finland is apparently over, despite the Social Democrats increasing their parliamentary seats in the Finnish elections on Sunday.
The centre-right National Coalition Party, led by Petteri Orpo, instead won the election, followed by the national populist True Finns as the second largest party.
The Coalition Party makes the most progress of all parties, increasing from 38 to 48 out of 200 seats in the Finnish Parliament. The True Finns increase from 39 to 46 seats and are seen as a likely partner in the new government.
Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) also increased its seats from 40 to 43, while the other government parties, the Centre Party, the Green Party, the Left Alliance and the liberal Swedish People’s Party (SFP) all lost support, although the latter party did not lose more than its nine parliamentary seats.
Sanna Marin herself says she is pleased with the result, even though she will probably have to resign as prime minister.
– Democracy has spoken, the Finnish people have voted, and celebrating democracy is always a wonderful thing. We have reason to be happy about this result, she says.
Åland’s only parliamentary seat goes to Mats Löfström, Åländsk Center, who is re-elected for his third term.
Distribution of seats in the Finnish Parliament (excluding Åland’s MP):
National Coalition Party 48 (+10)
The Finns 46 (+7)
Social Democrats Party 43 (+3)
Centre Party 23 (-8)
Green Leauge 13 (-7)
Left Alliance 11 (-5)
Swedish People’s Party 9
Christian Democrats 5
Movement Now 1
