New NATO member swears in most right-wing gov’t in decades

HELSINKI (AP):

Finland, which recently became NATO’s 31st member, swore in a new coalition government on Tuesday that is considered the most right-wing one in the Nordic country’s modern history.

President Sauli Niinistö appointed the 19-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, the leader of the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), after Finnish lawmakers approved the line-up of ministers.

The National Coalition Party won the most seats in an April 2 parliamentary election. Following seven weeks of coalition talks, the party announced a deal to form a government with three other parties, including the far-right, eurosceptic Finns Party.

The two junior partners in the coalition are the Christian Democrats and the Swedish People’s Party of Finland. Due to the dominance of the two senior partner parties, Finnish media described Orpo’s government as “national conservative” in nature.

The four parties hold a majority of 108 seats in the 200-member parliament. Political analysts said the new Cabinet was Finland’s most right-wing government since World War II.

Finland’s economy was the central issue in April’s election. While campaigning, conservative candidates accused the centre-left Cabinet of former Prime Minister Sanna Marin of excessive spending, contributing to rising state debt and other economic problems.

Despite Marin’s personal popularity and high international profile, voters shifted their allegiances away from her Social Democratic Party and to parties on the political right. The Social Democrats finished third in the election, after the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party.

Orpo, a 53-year-old veteran politician, is a former finance and interior minister and has headed the NCP, Finland’s main conservative party, since 2016.