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Home NATIONALKeskusta leads in parliamentary polls
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Mon, 20 Apr, 2015 12:08:20 AM
Keskusta wins 49, Perussuomalaiset 38, Kokoomus 37, SDP 34 seats
FTimes – STT Report, April 20
 
The Finns went to the polls in the Parliamentary Elections on Sunday. A polling centre in Espoo. Photo Lehtikuva.
The opposition Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party) has emerged the biggest winner in the parliamentary elections held across the country on Sunday.
 
The Centre Party won in 49 of the total 200 seats in parliament, adding 13 to the number of seats it won in the 2011 elections.
 
The main opposition Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) came second, bagging 38 seats, one seat short of what they managed in the previous polls.
 
The biggest component of the current four-party alliance government, Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party)-NCP which won most seats in the 2011 elections, claimed 37 seats, losing seven in the process.
 
The fourth-placed Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland), the second largest component of the alliance government, managed 34 seats, eight less than the number of seats they grabbed in the 2011 general elections.        
          
Photo Lehtikuva.
The Vihreä liitto (Green League) posted an impressive show, winning five more seats than in the previous elections. The results mean the Greens will have 15 MPs in the next parliament.
 
The Vasemistoliitto (Left Alliance) claimed 12 seats, which is two less than what the party had in the previous elections.
 
On the other hand, the Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (Swedish People’s Party of Finland) has won nine seats, maintaining the exact number of seats it won in the 2011 elections.
 
The Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit (Christian Democrats of Finland) managed five seats. The party won six seats in the previous elections.
 
In all, 117 seats have been won by male candidates compared to 83 claimed by female candidates in this year’s elections. Thus the percentage of female members in the next parliament will be 41.5. 
 
Out of the total 34 seats won by SDP, 21 have been won by female candidates, which is almost 62 per cent. On the other hand, 14 female candidates have been elected on the Centre Party ticket, which is less than 30 per cent.
 
Juha Sipilä, who is expected to take over as the prime minister, earlier said the key issue in government negotiation is not all about who will come second, third or fourth. “The first thing in the government negotiations is trust followed by the election programme and afterwards this arrangement (election results),” Sipilä said.
 
Advance votes of the Parliamentary Elections are being counted in Helsinki, Finland on Sunday April, 19 2015. Photo Lehtikuva.
Preliminary results confirmed that a total of 2,957,163 voters took to the polls during the parliamentary elections, yielding a countrywide turnout of 70.1 per cent. 
 
The turnout, however, reflected a slight drop, as four years ago it was 70.5 per cent.
 
The Keskusta came top with 21.1 per cent of the total votes cast, followed by the Kokoomus (18.2%), Perussuomalaiset (17.6%), SDP (16.5%), Vihreä liitto (8.5%), Vasemistoliitto (7.1%), the Swedish People’s Party of Finland (4.9%) and the Christian Democrats of Finland (3.5%).
 
Juha Sipilä, the chair of the Centre Party, emerged as the candidate who bagged the highest number of votes (30,733), followed by Perussuomalaiset Chair Timo Soini (29,441), whereas the chair of Kokoomus, Alexander Stubb, received the third highest (27,003).
 
After the final tally Jaana Pelkonen got the highest number of 15,954 votes among the female candidates.
 
The voting began at 9:00am and continued till 8:00pm with people found to participate with enthusiasm and festivity across the country.
 
In line with the tradition, Perussuomalaiset Chairman Timo Soini visited the polls at Espoo’s Iivisniemi school just after they opened at 9 o'clock. Soini was joined by President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.
 
SDP Chair Antti Rinne cast his vote in Mäntsälä, while Centre Party Chairman Juha Sipilä voted early in Oulu.
 
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