2023 Finnish parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 2 April 2023 to elect members of the Parliament of Finland.

Following the 2019 election, the Social Democratic Party formed a governing coalition with the Centre Party, Greens, Left Alliance, and the Swedish People's Party, with Antti Rinne serving as the prime minister of Finland. Later that year, Rinne was involved in a political scandal regarding the Finnish postal service, after which he resigned and was succeeded by Sanna Marin. Marin's government focused on issues regarding climate change, while her government also faced the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The invasion prompted her to announce that Finland would submit its candidacy to join NATO, which it did in May 2022.

Issues regarding the economy, the budget deficit, climate change, and education were discussed during the campaign period. The opposition parties NCP and Finns election programs called for budget cuts and austerity to balance the budget deficits, while the SDP's election program focused on economic growth through investments in employment and education to balance the budget. Marin stated her support for more education and public health spending, while the National Coalition called for balancing the economy, reducing spending on unemployment and housing benefits, and constructing more nuclear plants. The Finns campaigned on an anti-immigration and anti-European Union platform, while the Greens focused on issues regarding mental health and universal basic income. The Centre Party campaigned on regional politics.

The National Coalition Party won the election with 20.8% of the national popular vote and winning 48 seats in parliament, the third-highest result in the party's history. The right-wing populist Finns Party came in a close second place with the ruling Social Democratic Party of Finland under Prime Minister Marin beaten into third place. The National Coalition Party went on to form a coalition with the Finns, Swedish People's Party, and the Christian Democrats, with Petteri Orpo as prime minister. For the first time in Finland's history, the Centre Party did not win a plurality of votes in any regional voting districts. Five government parties and four opposition parties finished with parliamentary seats split at 100–100. This was the first time since 1983 that the top-three finishing parties by results did not lose share of votes by percentage points.

Background

The previous parliamentary election, held in April 2019, saw the Social Democratic Party place first, winning 17.7% of the popular vote, followed by the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party, who won 17.5% and 17% of the popular vote, respectively. The Centre Party of the outgoing prime minister Juha Sipilä placed fourth, winning 13.8% of the popular vote, while the Green League and the Left Alliance received more votes than in the preceding election. After several months of negotiations, the SDP led by Rinne formed a government in June 2019, bringing the Centre Party, Green League, Left Alliance, and the Swedish People's Party into the government.

In late 2019, a political scandal regarding the Finnish postal service broke out. Sirpa Paatero, the minister of local government and ownership steering, was accused of being aware of and hiding from members of the Parliament of Finland the postal service's project to change the status of a large number of its workers to a lower-paying contract. Paatero resigned in November 2019, after which Rinne was also accused of knowing the postal service plan. The Centre Party then left the government, which led Rinne to announce his resignation as prime minister and leader of the SDP in December 2019. He was succeeded by Sanna Marin. Marin became the world's youngest serving prime minister after being sworn into office in December 2019.

The Marin Cabinet announced they would combat climate change, protect the environment, and reduce social and economic inequalities. Her government also adopted a program that would aim to make Finland carbon-neutral by 2035 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the production of renewable energy. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, Marin's management of the pandemic benefited her party, causing her to rise in popularity in opinion polls, with her personal favourable opinion record rate reaching 85%. The SDP was surpassed by the Finns Party in opinion polls after April 2021, with the National Coalition Party becoming the most popular by July 2021.

Following the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marin took a firm line against Russia and Vladimir Putin, breaking Finland's historical military neutrality by announcing Finland's NATO candidacy. Finland officially submitted its candidacy in May 2022. Its path to join NATO was formalized in March 2023, when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, formally signed and approved the decision to ratify Finland's NATO membership. Turkey was the last NATO member to ratify the decision.

Electoral system

The 200 members of the Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta, Riksdagen) were elected using open list, proportional representation in 13 multi-member electoral districts, with seats allocated according to the D'Hondt method. The number of elected representatives is proportional to the population in the district six months prior to the elections. Åland has a single-member electoral district and its own party system. Every citizen who is at least 18 years old has the right to vote. Voters also had the option to vote during the advance voting period or on election day. Advance voting took place from March 22 to 28 March 2023.

Pre-election composition

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties and independent candidates that contested the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election. The Election Information and Results Service also announced that 2,424 candidates in total registered to take part in the election.

Campaign

Issues

Yle cited government borrowing, sustainability of public finances, climate change, and educational decline as main issues during the electoral campaign. Paul Kirby of BBC News noted that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had "little campaign impact", and added that the campaign period was instead concentrated on issues regarding the economy. Deutsche Welle cited a shortage of workers as a key issue during the campaign period, while the Associated Press mentioned that issues regarding the economy, climate change, education, and social benefits were discussed during the campaign. Markku Jokisipilä, an assistant professor at the University of Turku, said that in the debates, Marin has "stood out vigorously". He added that the Finns Party had the strongest social media presence. Teivo Teivainen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, said that opponents of the SDP's main problem is public spending. News agencies described the election as a close race between the SDP, National Coalition Party, and the Finns Party. Jenni Karimäki, a political historian who works at the University of Helsinki, said that "nobody can know what order the three leading parties will finish in on Sunday."

The Finns Party, which campaigned on an anti-immigration and anti-European Union (EU) platform, cited their priority to cut immigration from non-EU countries. Petteri Orpo, the leader of the National Coalition Party, campaigned on reducing spending on unemployment and housing benefits. While campaigning, Orpo stated his support for economic growth, balancing the public economy, "building up NATO-Finland", and constructing more nuclear plants. Riikka Purra, the leader of the Finns Party, called for austerity, and said that "we also want to tighten up our attitude towards the European Union." She added that the Finns Party would delay the carbon neutrality target that was introduced by Marin's government. The National Coalition Party agreed with Marin's position on carbon neutrality. Marin remained critical of right-wing parties, saying that they offered "an alternative that makes life miserable for all of us, cuts services, cuts livelihoods for the poorest"; she had also stated her support for education and public health spending, saying that it would help Finland to avoid borrowing. The Green League's campaign was focused on mental health services and universal basic income. The Centre Party campaigned on regional politics.

Slogans

Debates

Members of Parliament standing down

Centre Party

Christian Democrats

• Antero Laukkanen

Finns Party

Green League

Left Alliance

National Coalition Party

Social Democratic Party

Swedish People's Party

• Veronica Rehn-Kivi

Opinion polls

Results

During the advance voting period, 40% of the registered voters cast their ballots, the highest since the introduction of advance voting. Voting stations on April 2 were opened from 9:00 (UTC+03:00) a.m. to 8:00 pm. There were 4,277,487 citizens that had the right to vote in the election.

Distribution by electoral district

Aftermath

Government formation

Before the election, the Social Democratic Party, Green League, and the Left Alliance ruled out joining a coalition that involved the Finns Party. The Swedish People's Party similarly stated that they were unlikely to align with the Finns but did not rule the possibility out completely. According to Swedish People's Party leader Anna-Maja Henriksson, her party wants to see how government talks will go before making a final decision. The Left Alliance also stated that they were not ready to enter a coalition that involved the National Coalition Party. At the beginning of March 2023, Centre Party leader Annika Saarikko stated that even though she was not ruling out a coalition with any party, she was not willing to continue remaining in the incumbent coalition government due to policy disputes with other coalition parties, especially the Green League. National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo said he was keeping his options open. News agencies predicted that if his party was the largest, he would need to team up with the Finns Party or the Social Democratic Party, along with smaller parties, to get a majority.

After the immediate results of the election, the incumbent coalition did not have an absolute majority in parliament. The results showed that Orpo had to face difficult options, as his party differed from the Finns on immigration, climate, and EU membership status. Additionally, forming a coalition with them was said to be difficult because some parties had already ruled out a coalition with the Finns. On the other hand, he vowed to replace the economic policy of the Social Democrats. At that point, it was widely anticipated that the Centre Party, Green League, and Left Alliance would prefer to go into opposition rather than join a new coalition. This left the Swedish People's Party and Christian Democrats, which held their ground, as likely coalition partners. The media reported that Orpo was leaning towards talks with the Finns Party first, but also that he was sending out a questionnaire to each of the other parties to assess their positions on various topics.

On 4 April 2023, leader of the Social Democratic Party Sanna Marin announced that she resigned as chairwoman of her party, but remained a lawmaker in parliament. Centre Party leader Annika Saarikko confirmed that the Centre Party's place was in the opposition following the party's election losses. Green League party leader Maria Ohisalo made similar statements, citing monetary cuts to education, insufficiently counters climate change and nature loss as major concerns. Swedish People's Party leader Anna-Maja Henriksson said she did not rule out joining a coalition with the Finns Party, but stated that she opposed the policies and values that the Finns pursue. Christian Democratic leader Sari Essayah said she was open to joining a coalition led by National Coalition if the coalition agreed to implement major structural reforms in the labour markets and social security system. Based on the answers and initial talks with all parties, Orpo announced that he would negotiate forming a government with the Finns Party, Swedish People's Party, and the Christian Democrats.

Petteri Orpo announced on 15 June that the four parties had agreed to establish a four-party coalition government, including the far-right Finns Party. The government composition and its nineteen ministerial posts were announced on 17 June. The National Coalition received eight posts, the Finns Party seven, and the Swedish People's Party three, with the remaining one going to the Christian Democrats.

See also

• 2024 Finnish presidential election
• 2023 Ålandic legislative election

Notes

References