In Finland, the right-wing government was replaced by the Social Democrats

Deputies of the newly elected parliament of Finland voted on Tuesday to appoint Pettera Orpo, the leader of the National Coalition Party, as the head of the government. The social democrats led by Sannaya Marin were replaced, as expected, by the government of right-wing forces.

Orpo will lead a government consisting of conservatives of the National Coalition Party, nationalists of the Finn Party, the minority Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats. All together, they won enough seats in the general elections on April 2 to form a parliamentary majority.

Riika Purra, head of the Party of Finns (Eurosceptic), will become the new Minister of Finance. Deputy Chairman of the National Coalition Party Elena Valtonen will head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government will officially begin its duties on Tuesday, June 20.

According to the results of the vote in the parliament, Pettera Orpo expressed his “warm gratitude” for the trust shown to him by the deputies.

Proclaiming himself a “fiscal conservative,” the new prime minister ran an election campaign promising to reduce the state budget deficit, cut spending, cut taxes, and aimed to create new jobs in the private sector of the economy.

The new coalition government also intends to “shift immigration policy to the right” – limit the flow of labor migrants and make it more difficult for foreigners to acquire Finnish citizenship. Such were the political priorities of the nationalist Party of Finns during the election campaign.

In Finland, after 74 days of negotiations, a new government coalition headed by Prime Minister Pettera Orpo was formed. Journalists note that the new government will be the most right-wing in the country since the Second World War.

In addition to the National Coalition Party, headed by Orpo, the right-wing populists from the “True Finns” party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats will enter the government. There will be no representatives of left parties in the government.

The previous Social Democrat head of government, Sanna Marin, resigned in April. The mass media remind that Marin was popular against the backdrop of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the support of Kyiv after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. At the same time, the Social Democratic Party still lost the elections.