(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Finns cast ballots in a closely contested parliamentary election
on Sunday that could cost left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin
power amid voter concern over the future of generous public
services at a time of economic downturn, trend reports citing
reuters .
With no party seen as holding a decisive lead the election is
likely to be followed lengthy coalition talks, although whichever
party wins on Sunday will have the first attempt at forming a
government.
Marin, 37, is seen by fans around the world as a millennial role
model for progressive new leaders and remains very popular among
many Finns, particularly young moderates, but she has antagonised
some conservatives with lavish spending on pensions and education
that they see as irresponsible.
"The right wing offers an alternative that makes life miserable
for all of us, cuts services, cuts livelihoods for the poorest,"
Marin told supporters on Saturday. "We have an opportunity to
choose a better alternative."
Opinion polls show her Social Democrats, the biggest party in
the outgoing coalition government, in a dead heat with the rightist
National Coalition Party and the nationalist Finns Party, with all
three seen winning some 18.7-19.8% of ballots.
The National Coalition has led in polls for almost two years
although its lead has melted away in recent months. It has promised
to curb spending and stop the rise of public debt, which has
reached just over 70% of GDP since Marin took office in 2019.
The grouping accuses Marin of eroding Finland's economic
resilience at a time when Europe's energy crisis, driven by war in
Ukraine, has hit the country hard and the cost of living has
increased.
WATERSHED U-TURN
"Taking on more debt cannot go on for the next 30 years," said
Martti Haikio, 73, a history professor. "It's been going on for 30
years - more debt, debt, debt - and good services, fine, but on
borrowed money."
The Finns Party, too, calls for austerity but its main goal is
to reduce what its leader Riikka Purra has called "harmful"
immigration from developing countries outside the European
Union.
Voting starts at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) and closes at 8 p.m. Partial
results from early voting will be published shortly afterwards.
Some 1.7 million or 40.5% of eligible voters already cast their
ballot during the week-long early voting period that ended on
Tuesday, Justice Ministry data showed.
Marin's Social Democrats believe economic growth will help rein
in the rise in public debt and that if the coffers need balancing,
prefer to contemplate raising taxes over spending cuts.
However, that growth is not imminent. The economy in Finland, a
country of 5.5 million, survived the pandemic better than those of
most European countries, but growth slowed to 1.9% last year and
the country is expected to tip into a mild recession this year,
while inflation peaked at 9.1% in December.
Most notable of Marin's foreign policy actions has been her
push, along with President Sauli Niinisto, for the country to make
a watershed policy U-turn by seeking NATO membership in the wake of
security concerns stemming from war in Ukraine.
That process is now almost complete, with Helsinki expected to
join within days after all the Western defence alliance's 30
members approved the accession.