Despite successfully leading the country through a very difficult time of pandemic and war, culminating in the historic decision to join NATO, the majority of Finns rejected Sanna Marin. Why did she fail when things were going so well? Because the Finns have grown tired of the rule of leftist fanatics.
The conservative National Coalition Party, which won the elections in Finland, and the right-wing populist Finns Party, which came in second, may co-govern Finland, although this is by no means certain.
The Finns Party gained support in the polls by opposing immigration, calling for the country not to take on debt in the face of an impending recession, but mainly by criticizing the EU’s plans to introduce carbon neutrality. They campaigned on the economy needing stabilization after the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, meaning there was no room now for costly changes of this kind.
Of course, such a right-wing coalition is one of two options, as in the democratic theater, the National Coalition Party could form a coalition with the left-wing party of the previous prime minister.
However, the results of the election in Finland shed an interesting light on the mood we are seeing in many countries across Europe, not only in its eastern part.
Finland is yet another country after Sweden and Italy where the majority of society rejected leftist rule. It is interesting because the Social Democrats fulfilled their promises to increase spending on education and various state initiatives. There was also no end to the admiration for how well Sanna Marin handled the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, she lost.
Marin was a favorite of the European left and performed well in the media, but she proved to be more of a left-wing activist than a pragmatic politician, and that’s what brought her down.
State debt, increased spending, and inflation proved too dangerous for the Finns, and the majority concluded that the celebrity prime minister did not control public finances in the face of an incoming recession.
