Following negotiations that lasted 74 days—the second-longest government formation in Finland’s history—the center-right National Coalition Party, which came in first place in April’s general election, over the weekend reached an agreement with the national-conservative Finns Party and two smaller parties to form a majority coalition, making Finland the latest in a succession of European countries to form a national right-wing government.
The coalition, led by the head of the National Coalition Party, Petteri Orpo, who is set to become Finland’s new prime minister, comprises the NCP, the Finns Party, the minority-language Swedish People’s Party, and the Christian Democrats. Collectively, the four-party coalition holds 108 of Finland’s 200-seat unicameral parliament, the Finnish national broadcaster Yle reports.
On Sunday, June 18th, four days after announcing that an agreement between the coalition partners had been reached, Orpo’s NCP announced the ministerial positions of the newly formed government. With NCP having garnered 22% of the national vote and the Finns Party taking 21%, it was decided that NCP, the senior partner, would hold eight ministerial positions while the junior partner would occupy seven.
Orpo will assume the post of prime minister, while NCP MPs Elina Valtonen and Antti Häkkänen are set to serve as the country’s new foreign minister and defense minister, respectively. Additionally, NCP MPs Arto Satonen and Matias Martinen will together head up the ministry of employment, while NCP MPs Sari Multala and Mari-Leena Talvitie will share the role of minister of culture and science.
NCP lawmakers will also control the ministry of local government and regional affairs, the ministry of social security, and the ministry of climate and environment.
The Finns leader Riikka Purra is poised to become the finance minister, while other lawmakers in her party will lead the ministries of the interior; transport and communications; justice, foreign trade and development; social affairs and health; and economic affairs.
Meanwhile, it was announced on Saturday, June 17th that Sari Essayah, the leader of the Christian Democrats, will become the minister of agriculture and forestry.
The Swedish People’s Party (SPP), on the afternoon of Monday, June 19th, made public that the party’s leader Anna-Maja Henriksson will serve as the minister of education. Additionally, the SPP announced that MPs Anders Adlercreutz and Sandra Bergqvist will lead the ministry for European affairs and ownership steering and the ministry of youth, sport, and physical activity, respectively.
The new government plans to adopt stricter immigration policies, curb public debt by cutting back on some social service benefits, reduce income taxes, employ more private health services, and reform the labor market support system.
Foreigners who are unemployed for more than three months will not be allowed to collect social benefits and will be required to leave the country; citizenship can only be applied for after at least eight years of residency; and the family reunification rules for new immigrants will be made considerably more stringent.
