# Finnish centre-right eyes coalition talks as defeated Marin considers future Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-04-03 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin Concedes Defeat in Meta Description: Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin conceded defeat in a close parliamentary election, paving the way for Petteri Orpo to form a coalition. Learn more. URL: https://financedigest.com/finnish-centre-right-eyes-coalition-talks-as-defeated-marin-considers-futurehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-04-03t104901z1lynxmpej320cxrtroptp4finland-election-1736814205779-compressed.jpg) By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI (Reuters) – Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin was left to consider her future after she conceded defeat in a tight parliamentary election on Sunday that handed her centre-right rival Petteri Orpo the right to try and form a coalition. Despite gaining three seats, Marin’s left wing Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third with 43 of parliament’s 200 seats behind Orpo’s centre-right National Coalition Party with 48 seats and the nationalist Finns on 46. That [leaves Orpo with an uneasy choice](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-euros-20-year-low-leaves-ecb-facing-costly-choices.html "Analysis-Euro’s 20-year low leaves ECB facing costly choices") of whether to court Marin’s SDP, whose economic policy he wants to replace, or Riikka Purra’s nationalists, whose climate-sceptic, eurosceptic and anti-immigration views he opposes. Orpo has two options: a right-wing government together with the Finns Party in which case he would struggle to find enough (smaller) allies,” said Emilia Palonen, a senior [researcher in political science at the University](https://www.financedigest.com/bitcoin-nonprofit-bitgive-announces-research-collaboration-with-university-of-edinburgh.html "Bitcoin Nonprofit BitGive Announces Research Collaboration with University of Edinburgh") of Helsinki. The other option is an alliance (with SDP) and certainly Sanna Marin is ready to negotiate for that,” with her party keen to defend public [services and to make sure promised cuts](https://www.financedigest.com/emergency-call-services-telcos-urge-eu-to-protect-telecoms-networks-from-power-cuts.html "Emergency call services, telcos urge EU to protect telecoms networks from power cuts") are not excessive, she said. If Marin, the world’s youngest [prime minister](https://www.financedigest.com/britains-queen-elizabeth-will-appoint-new-prime-minister-at-balmoral.html "Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will appoint new prime minister at Balmoral") when she took office aged 34 in 2019, ends up outside of government, she may shift focus to a top job in Brussels, such as the ‘Spitzenkandidat’, the lead candidate of the European Social Democrats to head the European Commission, Palonen said. LIKELY NEXT [PRIME MINISTER](https://www.financedigest.com/economist-odor-picked-as-slovakias-caretaker-prime-minister.html "Economist Odor picked as Slovakia’s caretaker prime minister") In the run-up to the election, Orpo campaigned to “fix Finland” and its economy, vowing to curb spending and stop the [rise of public](https://www.financedigest.com/guess-what-public-sector-adoption-of-e-invoicing-on-the-rise.html "GUESS WHAT? PUBLIC SECTOR ADOPTION OF E-INVOICING ON THE RISE!") debt, which has reached just over 70% of GDP since Marin took office in 2019. In turn, Marin’s Social Democrats rallied voters to [support them in their defence of the Nordic welfare model of cradle-to-grave services](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-gives-bbc-world-service-20-million-pounds-to-support-english-language-broadcasting.html "UK gives BBC World Service 20 million pounds to support English language broadcasting") from free education and affordable healthcare to decent pensions, against Orpo’s spending cuts. While a coalition bridging the left-right divide would not be a first of the kind in Finland, Orpo and Marin might struggle to agree on a joint programme for the economy, said Ilkka Ruostetsaari, professor in political science. In the debates these parties’ goals were very far apart from each other and that [gives a challenging](https://www.financedigest.com/youtube-in-challenge-to-tiktok-to-give-shorts-creators-45-of-ad-sales.html "YouTube in challenge to TikTok to give Shorts creators 45% of ad sales") starting point for the coalition talks,” he said. During Marin’s time as prime minister, Finland faced coronavirus lockdowns, the energy crisis and soaring consumer price inflation, and the country is expected to undergo a mild [recession this year](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-to-avoid-recession-this-year-but-outlook-still-weak-bcc-says.html "UK to avoid recession this year but outlook still weak, BCC says"). I think it’s the challenging couple of years we have behind us now, I guess people want to see [change of any sort and that might explain the result maybe a little](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-dollar-little-changed-as-inflation-data-sends-mixed-signals.html "Stocks, dollar little changed as inflation data sends mixed signals") bit,” 26-year-old architect Maija Simoska told Reuters in Helsinki on Monday. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Tom Little in Helsinki, editing by Terje Solsvik and Conor Humphries) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---