Sanna Marin has to shudder before the elections in Finland

Immediately before joining NATO, the country elects a new parliament. The Social Democratic Prime Minister does not guarantee victory.

Helsinki / Vienna. Sana Marin is popular. In a poll shortly before Finland’s general election on Palm Sunday, nearly two-thirds of respondents said the 37-year-old prime minister, who has been in office since 2019, had done “very well” or “somewhat well” so far. . . In the Scandinavian country of about 5.5 million people, Marin is “clearly the most popular party leader, and nobody comes close to her popularity ratings,” said political scientist Kimo Grönlund of the Obo Academy in Turku.

However, a victory for the Social Democrats (SDP) on Sunday is highly uncertain. Even the current balance of power in the Reichstag is quite even, because the three largest parties have approximately the same number of 200 deputies: the SDP 40, the Finnish right-wing populist base (PS) 39, the conservative coalition party (KOK ) 37. According to forecasts, it should perform The three do almost equally well, at 19% each – where Marin and PS Riikka Purra (45) can each fetch 19.2% according to a survey, the Conservatives under former Finance Minister Petteri Urbu (53) 19.8 percent. The latter was still clearly ahead in December, at 24 percent.