Antti Rinne (left) of the Social Democrats and Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition were asked to identify their preferred coalition partners in a debate event organised by the Association of Finnish Political Journalists.
The chairpersons of the two most supported political parties in Finland, Petteri Orpo (NCP) and Antti Rinne (SDP), have expressed their reservations about forming a coalition government with the Finns Party.
Orpo and Rinne were asked to revealed their preferred coalition partners in a debate organised by the Association of Finnish Political Journalists on Wednesday.
Both began their answer by first ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Finns Party.
“It’s hard to imagine how the Social Democrats could be in the same government with the Finns Party,” Rinne stated, calling attention to differences in the fundamental values of the two opposition parties.
Orpo, in turn, gauged that coalition co-operation would be difficult with the Finns Party and reminded that the current government drew the same conclusion following the emergence of Jussi Halla-aho as the chairperson of the Finns Party in June, 2017.
Rinne estimated that mutual trust between the coalition partners is key to the functioning of any coalition government, adding that such trust could possibly be built with Orpo, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre) and Touko Aalto, the chairperson of the Green League.
The next parliamentary elections will be held on 14 April 2019.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi
