Helsinki: The centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) has narrowly won Finland’s general election, with 17.7% of the total votes. With 99.3% of the ballots counted as of early on Monday morning, the SDP, headed by former union leader Antti Rinne, obtained 17.7% of the votes and 40 seats in Parliament, while the anti-immigration Finns Party — who are also in the opposition — obtained 17.5% of the votes and 39 seats, reports Efe news.
“For the first time since 1999 we are the largest party in Finland,” said Rinne, though the fine margin of the SDP’s win means a coalition could be difficult. Thus, in a result that may be a harbinger for Europe-wide elections later this year, the nationalist Finns Party managed to garner more votes than the conservative governing National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) headed by Acting Finance Minister Petteri Orpo, which got 17% of the votes and 38 seats.
The Center Party, headed by outgoing PM Juha Sipila, seems to be the big loser obtaining 13.8% votes and 31 seats in Parliament, its worst showing in history. In the parliament resulting from the 2015 legislative vote, the Center Party had held 49 seats after garnering more than 21% of the vote. Meanwhile, the Green League is the party that gained the most support, after the SDP, capturing 11.5% votes and 20 parliamentary seats, five more than in 2015.