Finland to elect new parliament with polls showing tight race 

Helsinki, April 2, (dpa/GNA) - Voters in Finland head to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections with opinion polls show showing all three leading parties roughly tied, leaving Prime Minister Sanna Marin fighting for her job. 

The conservative National Coalition Party, led by former Finance Minister Petteri Orpo, appeared to be the slight favourite ahead of the election – but the polls recently saw them only narrowly ahead of the right-wing populist party The Finns and Marin’s Social Democrats. 

The polling stations in the northernmost country in the EU will remain open until 8 pm (1700 GMT). 

Initial results based on early votes are expected to be released immediately after polls closed and a preliminary final result should be available around midnight on Monday. 

Marin, 37, has been the Finnish prime minister since the end of 2019. She leads a centre-left coalition consisting of five parties. 

The leader of the party that wins the most votes in Finland’s elections is usually given the first chance to form a new governing coalition. 

GNA