Finnish Social Democrats and nationalist Finns Party nearly tied in election

By Anne Kauranen and Tarmo Virki

 

Chairman of National Coalition Party Petteri Orpo attends the parliamentary election party in Helsinki, Finland April 14, 2019. Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari via REUTERS

 

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's leftist Social Democrats and the nationalist Finns Party emerged nearly tied to win Sunday's general election, reflecting a mounting sense of insecurity in the Nordic nation over immigration, welfare and climate change.

 

Tipped to win, the opposition Social Democrats scored 17.7 percent, while their eurosceptic Finns Party rivals were at 17.5 percent, according to final results from the justice ministry.

 

The co-ruling Centre Party of Prime Minister Juha Sipila and centre-right National Coalition stood at 13.8 percent and 17.0 percent, respectively, marking the first time in a century that no party won more than 20 percent in a general election.

 

With a fragmented parliament and deep divisions within the mainstream parties over how to tackle rising costs of expensive public services, coalition talks following the election could be protracted.

 

But Social Democrat leader Antti Rinne, 56, a former union boss, was expected to have the first shot at forming a government, with most party leaders having ruled out cooperation with the populist Finns.

 

"For the first time since 1999 we are the largest party in Finland ... SDP is the prime minister's party," Rinne told supporters and party members celebrating in central Helsinki.

 

With the European Parliament election less than two months away, the Finnish ballot is being watched in Brussels.

 

Underscoring a growing confidence among the far-right in Europe, anti-immigration parties, including the Finns, have announced plans to join forces after the May 26 EU election in a move that could give them a major say in how the continent is run.

 

At stake in Finland is the future shape of the country's welfare system, a pillar of the social model across the Nordics, which the leftists want to preserve through tax hikes and the centre-right wants to see streamlined because of rising costs.

 

Just as the Social Democrats are benefiting from a growing sense of insecurity among Finland's older and poorer voters, the Finns argue that the nation has gone too far in addressing issues such as climate change and migration at its own expense.

 

MOST POPULAR POLITICIAN

After losing some ground when hardliner Jussi Halla-aho took the party's reigns in 2017, the Finns have made rapid gains in recent months when a number of cases of sexual abuse of minors by foreign men stirred anti-immigration sentiments.

 

But Halla-aho, who was fined by the Supreme Court in 2012 for blog comments linking Islam to paedophilia and Somalis to theft, emerged as Finland's most popular politician on Sunday, garnering the highest number of votes - more than 30,000.

 

The Social Democrats' Rinne won roughly 12,000.

 

"I could not expect a result like this, and no one could," Halla-aho told supporters on Sunday, referring to the party's overall result.

 

The Finns Party's stance on environmental policies, which includes opposing a proposed tax on meat consumption, appeals to rural voters in particular who worry about soaring fuel costs and resent any efforts to change what they see as the traditional Finnish way of life.

 

The party is the only group in Finland - a country that has the highest air quality in the world, according to the World Health Organisation - to argue the next government should not speed up cutting carbon emissions to combat climate change.

 

Unlike Finland's Social Democrats as well as populists in the south of Europe who resonate with voters angry over slow economic growth in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, the Finns call for fiscal restraint.

 

One area that has suffered most in the Nordics is the region's cherished welfare model.

 

Healthcare systems across much of the developed world have come under increasing stress in recent years as treatment costs soar and people live longer, meaning fewer workers are supporting more pensioners.

 

Reform has been controversial in Finland and plans to cut costs and boost efficiency have stalled for years, leaving older voters worried about the future.

 

"It's good that we are the biggest party in Finland, but it's tough competition with other parties. Negotiations for a new government will be very tough and very difficult," Social Democrat supporter Mikko Heinikoski, 37, said.

 

(Additional reporting by Attila Cser and Ilze Filks in Helsinki; Writing by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Janet Lawrence, Angus MacSwan and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-15

Many Congratulations to the Finns Party

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"In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party won 19.1% of votes,^[20]becoming the third largest party in the Finnish Parliament.^[21] In the 2015 election the party got 17.7% of the votes, making them the parliament's second largest party.^[22] The party was in opposition for the first 20 years of its existence. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finns_Party

In 2011 19.9 percent. In 2015 17.7 percent. In 2019 17.5 percent. Clearly on the rise!

the ship of fools "socialistica" is running on ground and globally sinking.

the front against muslim immigration is expanding strongly now finland.

on the 24.05.19 the strong resistance will emerge with lega nord, vox in spain, 

front national, fpoe, fidez,afd, nigel farage etc.. they will oppose the ship of socialist fools in the eu parliament. socialism is for losers.

 

 wbr

roobaa01

 

Going to be really difficult to govern with such small numbers. This is where we see who will compromise their values for power.

Presumably the resident Liberal useful idiots will be along to warn us that this represents the resurgence of Nazism in Europe.

The left has only themselves to blame for this surge in anti-immigration and nationalism (due to them having been in power in one form or another for like 30 years) as it is a natural push-back to balance the scales after the free-for-all joke that has been going on. The world has changed and people are increasingly becoming disillusioned with many things (like the EU/immigration etc.) along with the idea that your average person has not benefited much from what has been going on over the last couple of decades ... if anything the opposite seems to be the case and they have been squeezed for every drop of everything that they can be, as well as being asked to swallow some pretty unpalatable stuff.

 

We are all well aware of the dangers of the far right but the far left has hidden itself well in plain site over the years but has failed to realise that they are equally a threat with their intolerance too. Most normal people are center ground with views a little to the left or right of that depending on the issue (for example, center right on law enforcement but center left on social services). All political roads eventually lead back to the political center ground as the extremes of both sides only offer failure and cannot have their way forever. What we are seeing now is the scales being corrected as people start to realise what's at stake and that it is interjecting into their lives in a way that they negatively notice. We could speculate as to why this has happened like prolonged unparalleled prosperity, lack of conflict or adversity, gone soft as life has got so cushy, near sky-high levels of education in the West and a superior sense of moral and ethical values ... who knows?   

 

However, immigration is the thing that's driving this and will eventually bring down this flirtation with the far left as it's been too many too fast. People don't like to see their traditions and cultures being diluted or even dismissed in their own countries in favour of some sort of characterless amorphous blob of a culture that has no meaning to them or that they can't even recognise. 

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by Brigand

12 minutes ago, Brigand said:

People don't like to see their traditions and cultures being diluted or even dismissed in their own countries in favour of some sort of characterless amorphous blob of a culture that has no meaning to them or that they can't even recognise. 

Good summary overall and the paragraph I cut and paste is spot on - something very unnatural is being forced upon us- mass immigration is indeed the fault line - at no point were the population consulted on this, it was an action of politicians serving their own and their puppet masters agenda. In the UK it was done surreptitiously until it became so obvious and then people who questioned or opposed  were shouted down as haters, bigots, xenephobes, racists - a tactic that normal people find deeply offensive.

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by mokwit

Just now, roobaa01 said:

the ship of fools "socialistica" is running on ground and globally sinking.

the front against muslim immigration is expanding strongly now finland.

on the 24.05.19 the strong resistance will emerge with lega nord, vox in spain, 

front national, fpoe, fidez,afd, nigel farage etc.. they will oppose the ship of socialist fools in the eu parliament. socialism is for losers.

 

 wbr

roobaa01

 

Yes a terrible defeat for the left

 The Social Democrats gained 6 seats. The Greens gained 5 seats. And the Leftist Alliance gained 4 seats. And the mighty anti immigrant Finns Party had a magnificent gain of precisely 1 seat.

Impressive!!!

Great news, and a welcome boost to all "Brexit, Frexit etc" forces in the upcoming Euro elections.

17 minutes ago, Brigand said:

The left has only themselves to blame for this surge in anti-immigration and nationalism (due to them having been in power in one form or another for like 30 years) as it is a natural push-back to balance the scales after the free-for-all joke that has been going on. The world has changed and people are increasingly becoming disillusioned with many things (like the EU/immigration etc.) along with the idea that your average person has not benefited much from what has been going on over the last couple of decades ... if anything the opposite seems to be the case and they have been squeezed for every drop of everything that they can be, as well as being asked to swallow some pretty unpalatable stuff.

 

We are all well aware of the dangers of the far right but the far left has hidden itself well in plain site over the years but has failed to realise that they are equally a threat with their intolerance too. Most normal people are center ground with views a little to the left or right of that depending on the issue (for example, center right on law enforcement but center left on social services). All political roads eventually lead back to the political center ground as the extremes of both sides only offer failure and cannot have their way forever. What we are seeing now is the scales being corrected as people start to realise what's at stake and that it is interjecting into their lives in a way that they negatively notice. We could speculate as to why this has happened like prolonged unparalleled prosperity, lack of conflict or adversity, gone soft as life has got so cushy, near sky-high levels of education in the West and a superior sense of moral and ethical values ... who knows?   

 

However, immigration is the thing that's driving this and will eventually bring down this flirtation with the far left as it's been too many too fast. People don't like to see their traditions and cultures being diluted or even dismissed in their own countries in favour of some sort of characterless amorphous blob of a culture that has no meaning to them or that they can't even recognise. 

Why do so many people keep blaming the left for immigration? Many countries in Europe have had consecutive center/conservative governments over the last 10-15 years and during that time there has been no slowing down of immigration, so stop blaming the left.

Just now, rudi49jr said:

Why do so many people keep blaming the left for immigration? Many countries in Europe have had consecutive center/conservative governments over the last 10-15 years and during that time there has been no slowing down of immigration, so stop blaming the left.

Doesn't that tell you it is a supra governmental policy?

Just now, blazes said:

Great news, and a welcome boost to all "Brexit, Frexit etc" forces in the upcoming Euro elections.

Clearly a great victory. The Finns Party gained 1 seat

The left gained 15.

41 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Doesn't that tell you it is a supra governmental policy?

I suggests to me that immigration to Europe is not being driven by European politics.

 

 

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I suggests to me that immigration to Europe is not being driven by European politics.

 

 

It suggests to me that two sides are meeting in the middle without actually being complicit - one side is on it's Hijrah* into Europe and Europe is welcoming them.

 

*conquest by migration.

3 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

the ship of fools "socialistica" is running on ground and globally sinking.

the front against muslim immigration is expanding strongly now finland.

on the 24.05.19 the strong resistance will emerge with lega nord, vox in spain, 

front national, fpoe, fidez,afd, nigel farage etc.. they will oppose the ship of socialist fools in the eu parliament. socialism is for losers.

 

 wbr

roobaa01

 

Well now, although I am not a Fan of what became of social democrats in Europe, how it is now I mean, I think you should remind yourself of what Social Democrats brought to the poorer parts of the people, brought to working people.

Most certainly no thanks for that are due to the conservative parties in Europe.

I doubt if the "populist" parties, besides possible reducing the "fugutives", have anything good in store for the "working class".

Do remember, for your own good, that the conservative parts of the political spectrum absolutely love the pounding Social Democracy is getting, better for the big money!

The attack on the welfare state is another boon for big capital, but without the explosive stream of non Europeans diving into our social funds without ever paying anything is the reason why those must be "streamlined", read destroyed.

And who wanted them in?

Right, big money, to get cheaper workers......

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by hansnl

5 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Well now, although I am not a Fan of what became of social democrats in Europe, how it is now I mean, I think you should remind yourself of what Social Democrats brought to the poorer parts of the people, brought to working people.

Most certainly no thanks for that are due to the conservative parties in Europe.

I doubt if the "populist" parties, besides possible reducing the "fugutives", have anything good in store for the "working class".

Do remember, for your own good, that the conservative parts of the political spectrum absolutely love the pounding Social Democracy is getting, better for the big money!

True, but to vote for these people now is to vote for PC/identity politics and mass immigration. Also for increased control of the population by labeling any opposition as a hate crime or racism or the far right.

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by mokwit

2 hours ago, mokwit said:

True, but to vote for these people now is to vote for PC/identity politics and mass immigration. Also for increased control of the population by labeling any opposition as a hate crime or racism or the far right.

Well, it looks like more Finns want that than they did before.

Well done the FINNS PARTY..keep going although you will get pelters from the oh so pc trendy left mob who despise anyone sticking up for their respective beliefs and their country

Well, it looks like more Finns want that than they did before.

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Many posts seem to identify mass immigration for many of the problems in various countries in Europe and PC politicians for letting it happen. I could not agree more with these views.  Who wants to see their society and culture destroyed by too many to fast immigration policies? Mass immigration drains the resources and the immigrants remain in their enclaves and do not adopt the new culture. I wonder why it is however when Trump tries to tackle the same problem in the US everyone here on TV seems against him.  I now live in a city where over half the population is foreign born.  It's not the city I grew up in and soon will not be my country anymore.  Thankfully I have the financial resources to live above the mess created by the progressive left. I do feel sorry for the young American kids entering the world place and adulthood however for what they will have to face. The massive blob of humanity someone mentioned is alive and well in California. No one thinks alike and there is no common culture now. I can travel from Mexico to Thailand to Korea and more in one day just driving around Los Angeles all the while seeing the tents and encampments of the homeless scattered everywhere. If 100,000+ per month entering over the southern border isn't cause for concern, I don't know what is.

3 minutes ago, malagateddy said:

Well done the FINNS PARTY..keep going although you will get pelters from the oh so pc trendy left mob who despise anyone sticking up for their respective beliefs and their country

 

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

Yes well done. In the previous Parliament you had 38 seats. Now you have 39! Ride the surge!

As for you loser Social Democrats you gained a mere 6 seats to go from 34 to 40. Your days are numbered.

And the Greens who went from 15 to 20 seats. Clearly the electorate sees right through you.

And the Left Alliance that went from 12 to 16. You are breathing your last few gasps.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I hear the bell. It's time for my remedial arithmetic class. A pity some others out there won't be joining me. 

9 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Yes well done. In the previous Parliament you had 38 seats. Now you have 39! Ride the surge!

As for you loser Social Democrats you gained a mere 6 seats to go from 34 to 40. Your days are numbered.

And the Greens who went from 15 to 20 seats. Clearly the electorate sees right through you.

And the Left Alliance that went from 12 to 16. You are breathing your last few gasps.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I hear the bell. It's time for my remedial arithmetic class. A pity some others out there won't be joining me. 

Sorry to break this to teddy, but you’ve just been owned.

 

Do the right thing and do it quickly - admit you were wrong.

 

Yes well done. In the previous Parliament you had 38 seats. Now you have 39! Ride the surge!
As for you loser Social Democrats you gained a mere 6 seats to go from 34 to 40. Your days are numbered.
And the Greens who went from 15 to 20 seats. Clearly the electorate sees right through you.
And the Left Alliance that went from 12 to 16. You are breathing your last few gasps.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I hear the bell. It's time for my remedial arithmetic class. A pity some others out there won't be joining me. 

Well now. Enjoy your class

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Troll post and reply reported and removed.

 

9 hours ago, mokwit said:

Good summary overall and the paragraph I cut and paste is spot on - something very unnatural is being forced upon us- mass immigration is indeed the fault line - at no point were the population consulted on this, it was an action of politicians serving their own and their puppet masters agenda. In the UK it was done surreptitiously until it became so obvious and then people who questioned or opposed  were shouted down as haters, bigots, xenephobes, racists - a tactic that normal people find deeply offensive.

Who/what is behind it and why are they doing it?
Ok, never mind the first question, that's complicated, but what is the reason for it, what is the purpose?

8 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Yes a terrible defeat for the left

 The Social Democrats gained 6 seats. The Greens gained 5 seats. And the Leftist Alliance gained 4 seats. And the mighty anti immigrant Finns Party had a magnificent gain of precisely 1 seat.

Impressive!!!

Cynic! The Finns are reasonable people who understand the limits of democracy, they are as anti muslim as the average Swede or Norwegian. At the end of the day the "Lion" people will make the right choice!

3 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Yes well done. In the previous Parliament you had 38 seats. Now you have 39! Ride the surge!

As for you loser Social Democrats you gained a mere 6 seats to go from 34 to 40. Your days are numbered.

And the Greens who went from 15 to 20 seats. Clearly the electorate sees right through you.

And the Left Alliance that went from 12 to 16. You are breathing your last few gasps.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I hear the bell. It's time for my remedial arithmetic class. A pity some others out there won't be joining me. 

 

Granting that I know as much (or, more accurately) as little as Bristolboy here, I would observe that commenting on Finnish politics is work for a nordic Einstein.  Even if you were a Finn commenting on this thread, I would probably have to take your comments with a pinch of salt.

 

Take a look at this paragraph which indicates that the Finns Party lost 20 of its MPs back in 2017 after some kind of defection (which no doubt our resident expert on Finnish politics, Dr Bristolboy, will explain to us):

 

 

 

According to Vaalit, the Centre Party lost the most seats, with the Social Democratic Party, Green League, and the Left Alliance recording the largest gains.

The Finns Party, Movement Now and the National Coalition Party also gained one seat each since the last election. However, twenty members of the Finns Party had defected during the 2017 Finnish government crisis, so technically they had a net gain of twenty-one MP's since the split.

The Centre Party got its lowest vote share since the 1917 Finnish parliamentary election.

 

Now, Dr BB, could you please explain for us how it is we don't count the Finns Party as having 61 seats IF you count in those defections.  (Or how come they went from Zero to 21, looked at from another way?)

 

The above quotation came from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Finnish_parliamentary_election

 

I think I will now go and have some fun with a Finn....

8 hours ago, bristolboy said:

I hear the bell. It's time for my remedial arithmetic class. A pity some others out there won't be joining me. 

We'd kinda guessed already you were a Teechuh. Only a millennial with no real world experience would hold those views.

5 hours ago, blazes said:

 

Granting that I know as much (or, more accurately) as little as Bristolboy here, I would observe that commenting on Finnish politics is work for a nordic Einstein.  Even if you were a Finn commenting on this thread, I would probably have to take your comments with a pinch of salt.

 

Take a look at this paragraph which indicates that the Finns Party lost 20 of its MPs back in 2017 after some kind of defection (which no doubt our resident expert on Finnish politics, Dr Bristolboy, will explain to us):

 

 

 

According to Vaalit, the Centre Party lost the most seats, with the Social Democratic Party, Green League, and the Left Alliance recording the largest gains.

The Finns Party, Movement Now and the National Coalition Party also gained one seat each since the last election. However, twenty members of the Finns Party had defected during the 2017 Finnish government crisis, so technically they had a net gain of twenty-one MP's since the split.

The Centre Party got its lowest vote share since the 1917 Finnish parliamentary election.

 

Now, Dr BB, could you please explain for us how it is we don't count the Finns Party as having 61 seats IF you count in those defections.  (Or how come they went from Zero to 21, looked at from another way?)

 

The above quotation came from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Finnish_parliamentary_election

 

I think I will now go and have some fun with a Finn....

 

 

I may know little but you clearly know less. You missed the significance of the word "technically". In other words, the blue party has evaporated and the Finns party has reabsorbed all those seats. Their total number of seats after the 2015 election was 38 and now it's 39. You can thank me for setting you straight at your leisure.

 

"The Blue Reform is chaired by Sampo Terho, the Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport.^[1] It also includes all the other cabinet ministers who were previously members of the Finns Party: Timo Soini, Jussi Niinistö, Jari Lindström and Pirkko Mattila...It lost all seats in the 2019 election.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Reform"

 

 

 

16 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Why do so many people keep blaming the left for immigration? Many countries in Europe have had consecutive center/conservative governments over the last 10-15 years and during that time there has been no slowing down of immigration, so stop blaming the left.

Because they are so far to the right that to them centrist/conservative is left.

Edited April 16, 20197 yr by stevenl