Chairpersons of Finland’s coalition partners, Sari Essayah of the Christian Democrats (left), Riikka Purra of the Finns Party, Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition and Anders Adlercreutz of the Swedish People’s Party, held a press conference in conjunction with the government’s budget talks in Helsinki on 3 September 2024. Most Finns have doubts about whether the ruling coalition is taking Finland in the right direction, reveals a survey by Helsingin Sanomat. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)
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A SURVEY by Helsingin Sanomat has revealed stubborn and widespread public doubts about the policy agenda of the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP).
Policies pursued by the four-party ruling coalition were assessed to make Finland a better place to live in by only a quarter of respondents and a worse place to live in by 56 per cent of the survey respondents.
The views represent no significant change from the previous iteration of the survey, carried out in May 2024.
Especially women have reservations about the policy agenda. Fewer than one-fifth (17%) of them gauged that the government is taking the country toward better times and 64 per cent that the government is taking the country toward worse times.
Almost one-third (32%) of men voiced their confidence in a brighter future under the government’s stewardship, while 47 per cent of men expected things to get worse.
Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday pointed out that the younger the respondent, the more likely they were to have reservations about the policy agenda.
Fewer than one-fifth (18%) of under 30-year-old respondents voiced their trust that government policies will lead to a brighter future. Confidence in the government’s mission was the highest among over 70-year-olds, with 36 per cent of them viewing that the government is creating better living conditions in Finland.
Almost a half (48%) of business owners viewed that the country is moving in the wrong and 31 per cent that the country is moving in the right direction.
The public reservations reflected in the poll will likely cause anxiety among the ruling parties, especially as they gear up for the local and county elections scheduled for next spring, the newspaper predicted.
The National Coalition may be alarmed by the reservations of women and business owners, especially because its popularity among women is already on the decline, according to the latest opinion poll by YLE. The Finns Party, in turn, may be alarmed by the doubts of young people, it having won the lion’s share of the youth vote in recent elections.
While supporters of both senior coalition partners remain predominantly confident about the policy agenda, there are some questions, too, with 22–24 per cent of them saying they are unsure about where the policies will take Finland.
The two junior coalition partners were more anxious. Over half (52%) of Swedish People’s Party supporters said they are unsure about the direction, while 27 per cent they believe tomorrow will be brighter. The future was assessed to be worse by a lion’s share of supporters of the Christian Democrats.
Verian interviewed 1,150 people for the survey on 18–22 October. The results have a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
