Finland’s prime minister-elect and leader of the center-right National Coalition Party (NCP), Petteri Orpo, said Thursday he would start talks to form a coalition government — including the anti-immigration Finns Party.
“The official government negotiations … will begin on May 2 … between the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats,” Orpo told reporters in Helsinki, according to French newswire AFP.
The conservative leader expressed hope that a government would be formed by June, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
Orpo’s NCP defeated the party in power, Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats, in elections earlier this month, prompting the now-ex PM to resign her position as party leader.
The NCP is now the biggest political force in Finland’s 200-seat parliament, with 48 seats, while the far-right Finns Party has 46 and the Social Democrats have 43.
Adding the Swedish People’s Party of Finland’s 10 seats, and five seats from the Christian Democrats, would give Orpo a majority.
But the coalition talks will not be easy, with the Finns Party’s tough stance on immigration policy — while the NCP is in favor of new arrivals to boost Finland’s labor market — likely to pose a major hurdle.
Riikka Purra, leader of the Finns Party, said Thursday that there were differences between the two parties, but added she was committed to forming a government.
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