Finland election: Sanna Marin concedes defeat, right-wing National Coalition Party claims victory

Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin has conceded defeat in the election as right-wing opposition National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo on Sunday (April 2) claimed victory in the parliamentary election.

Orpo's party looked set to get the most seats in parliament, 48 out of 200 in total, with almost all votes counted on Sunday. Justice ministry election data showed his party will also get 20.5 per cent support among votes cast.

Marin hailed Social Democratic Party (SDP) improvement in both her party's vote share and its projected number of MPs as she addressed supporters and said that "it's a really good achievement, even though I didn't finish first today".

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Marin, who in 2019 became the world's youngest premier at 34, also congratulated the election winners during her concession speech.

In a speech to the party workers and followers, Orpo said that "we got the biggest mandate" and mentioned that the party would now be leading the coalition talks. Meanwhile, Finns leader Riikka Purra called it an "an excellent result".

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While speaking during the Associated Press at NCP's victory event, Orpo also mentioned the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and reiterated the stand of Finland—a nation that is vying to become a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member.

Orpo said, "First to Ukraine: we stand by you, with you. We cannot accept this terrible war. And we will do all that is needed to help Ukraine, Ukrainian people because they fight for us. This is clear. And the message to [Russian president Vladimir] Putin is: go away from Ukraine because you will lose."

(With inputs from agencies)

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