The newly elected Finnish parliament has chosen conservative Petteri Orpo to lead a four-way governing coalition, including the right-wing populist Finns Party.
A majority of lawmakers in Helsinki’s Diet voted in favour of Mr Orpo, a former finance minister, on Tuesday, following elections in April that ousted Sanna Marin, the Social Democratic leader, who had become a rising star on Europe’s political left.
Mr Orpo, 53, is the chairman of the centre-right National Coalition Party (NCP).
He leads a coalition that includes the minority-language Swedish People’s Party, the Christian Democrats, and, controversially, the nationalist and eurosceptic Finns Party.
The new finance minister is set to be Riikka Purra, who leads the Finns.
The party has promised a “paradigm shift” in Finland’s immigration policy now that they are in power, including hardening rules on family reunifications and lowering the refugee quota to 500 individuals per year.
President Sauli Niinistö will officially appoint Mr Orpo as the new head of government on Tuesday.
Mr Orpo succeeds Mr Marin, who has served as prime minister of the EU country since December 2019.
The NCP was the strongest party in the Finnish parliamentary elections at the beginning of April, ahead of the Finns and Marin’s Social Democrats.
Mr Marin plans to resign as Social Democratic party leader in late summer.
(dpa/NAN)
