- A new coalition government has formed in Finland.
- The conservative National Coalition Party wants to govern together with the right-wing populist party “The Finns” and two smaller parties.
- The agreement comes after almost three months of negotiations.
Petteri Orpo is said to be the new Prime Minister of Finland. He is the leader of the National Coalition Party. Orpo said he was “proud of the good program” that came out of the negotiations.
Legend:
Petteri Orpo will take over as head of government from Sanna Marin.
Keystone/Kimmo Brandt (archive)
The new coalition also includes the Swedish People’s Party (RKP), which represents the Swedish-speaking minority, and the Christian Democrats. With 108 out of 200 seats, the alliance has the majority in parliament. The Finnish government is thus sliding to the right.
Social Democrats in opposition
The Social Democrats under the incumbent head of government Sanna Marin are voted out of the left opposition, Marin. Shortly after the election, she announced that she was resigning as leader of the Social Democratic Party.
The party only came third in the parliamentary elections in April, behind the National Coalition Party and the “Finns”.
Violent clashes during coalition negotiations
During the coalition negotiations, there had been heated arguments between the right-wing populists and the RKP over the issues of development policy, immigration and climate protection. “The Finns” had threatened to withdraw from the negotiations.
Details of the government program have not yet been published, according to Orpo it should be presented on Friday. During the election campaign, his main goal was to reduce government spending by six billion euros.