Finland’s most popular politician of this century, cover of international magazines such as «Vogue” either “Time», the youngest prime minister in the world to come to power in 2019 at the age of 34. the social democrat sanna marinHowever, she does not have everything with her to be re-elected for a second term in the elections that the Nordic country is celebrating today.
With some polls that grant a triple tie between conservatives (20.3%), social democrats (19.3%) and right-wing populists (19.3%)the political destiny of who is seen as an example of the new generation of European social democratic leaders is uncertain to say the least.
«Sanna Marin he is a polarizing character. He has a following like a rock star. But, on the other hand, she has a lot of people who can’t stand her », sums up Marko Junkkari, a journalist for the newspaper «Helsingin Sanomat».
After winning by the minimum in April 2019 the Social Democrats their first elections in twenty years, Marin was appointed Minister of Transport in the short-lived Government of antti rinne. The veteran union leader had to resign six months later in the aftermath of a postal service strike, clearing the way for Marin to be elected prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party in August 2020.
The truth is that the new prime minister had to face the coronavirus pandemic very soon, which Finland knew how to handle much more successfully than neighboring countries such as Sweden. The center-left government, made up of Social Democrats, Greens, Centrists, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s Party, approved a generous aid package for citizens and companies in the face of the economic consequences of the coronavirus.
As a result, the public debt went from 65% to 73% and the deficit reached 6%, double the limit imposed by the European Union. Hence the leader of the opposition, the conservative Petteri Orpo have focused their campaign on accusing Marin of waste and promise a reduction in public spending of 6,000 million euros during the next legislature.
Marin, on the other hand, has focused her first campaign as an SDP candidate on the defense of the welfare state. He promises to finance the increase in spending on education, health and social services with a tax increase on the highest incomes. «We are not going to balance public spending or maintain a healthy society based on cuts; That is the bitter medicine of the right and it does not work, ”he settles.
The other major crisis that the Prime Minister has faced is the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year ago, which led the Scandinavian country to break with its traditional policy of non-military alignment to knock on NATO’s doors in search of its support. security umbrella against an unpredictable Russia with which it shares a 1,340-kilometer border.
After the “yes” of the Turkish Parliament on Thursday, the social democrat leader has successfully completed an express accession process that will lead Finland to become a member state of the Alliance in a few days. Yet Marin may not benefit at the polls on an issue on which there is broad consensus, and instead she may be punished by rising food and energy prices caused by the war. An inflation of 8% and an economy in recession weigh more on the electorate.
A discontent that once again has known how to take advantage of the ultra-right. With its new leader, Riikka Purra, the Finns Party aims to exceed 19%, the record number of votes it achieved in 2015. Then six parties agreed to a coalition to isolate the populists, who had grown by fueling the rejection of the bailouts Southern European financiers. Today, however, the conservatives do not rule them out as government partners. Orpo acknowledges that the two “have differences” on the EU, immigration and climate goals, but that they also have “many things” in common such as economic policy.
On the contrary, Marin refuses to agree with a party that he describes as racist, while he does not rule out a grand coalition with the conservatives. The question is who would head the government.
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