Finnish Social Democrat leader Rinne declares victory in election

Finland’s leftist Social Democrat party (SDP) leader Antti Rinne declared victory in Sunday’s (April 14) general election, after results showed his party winning by a tight margin.

The Social Democrats and the nationalist Finns Party appeared tied with nearly all votes counted, reflecting a mounting sense of insecurity in the Nordic nation over immigration and welfare.

Tipped to win, the opposition Social Democrats scored 17.7 percent, while their eurosceptic Finns Party rivals were at 17.5 percent, according to nearly complete results published by the justice ministry.

With 99.5 percent of votes counted, the co-ruling Centre Party of Prime Minister Juha Sipila and the centre-right National Coalition stood at 13.8 percent and 17.0 percent, respectively.

With a fragmented parliament and deep divisions within the mainstream parties over how to tackle rising costs of expensive public services, coalition talks following the vote could be protracted.

But Social Democrat leader Antti Rinne, 56, a former union boss, was expected to have the first shot at forming a government, with most party leaders having ruled out cooperation with the Finns.