The Green League’s chairperson Touko Aalto (left) and presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto were pictured during a party meeting in Riihimäki on 23 September. The opposition party has seen its support fall by 1.2 percentage points over the past month, according to a poll by YLE.
The Social Democratic Party has reinforced its status as the most supported opposition party in the Finnish Parliament, according to a poll commissioned by YLE.
YLE on Thursday reported that the party has recorded an increase of 1.7 percentage points in voter support – to 17.3 per cent – since early September. The trend has been the opposite for the Green League, which has seen its support fall by 1.2 percentage points after being stripped of its status as the most popular opposition party by the Social Democrats.
The Green League can thereby all but bury its hopes of becoming the largest political party in the parliamentary elections of 2019, according to the public broadcaster.
The poll results are also likely to create tensions between the three ruling parliamentary groups.
The National Coalition remains clearly the most supported ruling party after recording a 0.9 percentage point up-tick in support to 21.7 per cent. The Centre Party, in contrast, saw its share of the hypothetical vote drop by 0.4 percentage points to 15.8 per cent, whereas the Blue Parliamentary Group remains a minority choice despite recording a 0.1 percentage point bump in support to 1.5 per cent.
“The Centre’s popularity is at its lowest since the start of the tenure of [Juha] Sipilä, and it has gone back to where it started,” Jari Pajunen, the chief executive of Taloustutkimus, commented to YLE.
Taloustutkimus interviewed a total of 1,970 people for the survey between 11 September and 3 October.
The Christian Democrats and the Swedish People’s Party were the only other parties to record a notable change in support, the former gaining 0.6 percentage points and the latter losing 1.0 percentage points since the previous poll by YLE.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi
