Finnish PM party ranks last in popular poll one day before elections
3 Min Read
The center-right rival of the ruling SDP party garners most of the support, according to the survey.
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An election poster of Social Democratic Party SDP chair and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is displayed on a campaign booth in Helsinki, on March 31, 2023, ahead of the Finnish parliamentary elections on April 2. (AFP)
Finland Prime Minister's party, the Social Democratic Party of Finland, ranked third in a popularity survey conducted just one day ahead of the country's legislative elections on April 2, while the center-right National Coalition party held the first position and Finns Party came in second.
Leader of the National Coalition party and rival of 37-year-old Prime Minister Sanna Marin expressed satisfaction and optimism in the results.
"We have done a great campaign. We have the best candidates all over Finland and we are first in polls so I'm optimistic," 53-year-old Petteri Orpo told a French news network on Saturday.
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His main focus will be "to fix" the country's economy and “boost economic growth," he added, claiming that Marin is not concerned about Finland's economic state or its debt.
The new data showed a huge decline in Marin's popularity from last year, where a survey conducted by a Finnish newspaper showed that 64% of respondents found that the Prime Minister is “very” or “fairly” good at her job as PM.
The poll, conducted by Finnish research firm Taloustutkimus and announced by a Finnish broadcaster, revealed that 19.8% of the surveyed supported the National Coalition, while Finns Party received 19.5% and Marin's party 18.7%.
The company's business director told the broadcaster that “it is a very exciting situation and it's hard to say at the moment which party will be the biggest on election day.”
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Finnish journalist Marko Junkkari told the news outlet that Marin is a “polarizing character".
“She has fans like a rock star but on the other hand she has a lot of people who can't stand her,” he added.
Marin was voted in as PM and became the leader of the Social Democratic party in 2019.
Last year, a film of her went viral on social media where she was dancing and drinking at a party with a group of friends and celebrities, and some reports suggested that they were also doing drugs, sparking a wave of criticism.
Following the videos, Marin took a drug test that proved negative. In November 2022, she was officially cleared of misconduct after months-long investigations.
