Millionaire businessman wins Finland vote, euroskeptics take second place

A millionaire former telecom executive, who touted himself as a technocrat capable of rescuing Finland from its economic slump, won Sunday's parliamentary election, but he will likely need coalition support from a second-placed euroskeptic party.

Opposition Center Party leader Juha Sipila, who advocates a wage freeze and spending cuts to regain Finland's competitiveness, beat Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, whose pro-EU and pro-NATO government was marked by policy stagnation and a bickering coalition.

"Three years ago, we were seen as a sunset movement, but not anymore!" Sipila said in a speech to his cheering party members. "Finland is in a very difficult situation. We need exceptional degrees of cooperation so that we can overcome the difficulties."

The likely new prime minister may depend on the euroskeptic Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns, to form a government. If so, the resulting coalition could increase Finland's hard-line stance over bailouts in the eurozone just as the battle for Greece's future in the bloc nears a climax. The Finns Party has been critical of any more Greek bailouts

Based on 99.8 percent of votes, state broadcaster YLE forecast Sipila's party won 49 seats in the 200-member parliament, while the Finns won 38 seats. Stubb's center-right National Coalition scored 37 seats, and center-left Social Democrats took 34 seats.

The anti-immigration Finns Party's success echoes a Nordic-wide growth in populist parties amid unease over the policies of traditional parties, especially with regard to immigration. In Sweden, the populist Sweden Democrats were third in last year's election.

Sipila says he is open to including the Finns Party in a coalition even though they could complicate ties with Europe because they oppose bailouts and want to kick Greece out of the eurozone. Any third bailout for Greece may now face obstacles in the Finnish parliament.

“If the Finns go to government, I believe Finland's policy towards Greece will change. It will change for the better, because it can't get any worse,” Finns Party leader Timo Soini told reporters.

For voters in Finland, the top concern is their own economy, which has been mired in three years of recession, rising labor costs and a diminishing working population. Finland's biggest private company Nokia shrunk following Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007, and has since suffered a series of massive layoffs — reducing its workforce from 125,000 to 49,000 worldwide over the last six years, Bloomberg reported. It once accounted for 4 percent of the nation's GDP, the business news website added.

Standard & Poor's last year cut Finland's rating to AA+, citing growth problems and political indecisiveness. 

Finland also shares an 833-mile border with Russia, whose recent power plays and antagonism with the West have revived debate about Finland's relationship with Russia and if the country should join NATO, a military alliance of Western powers. Stubb was the only candidate who was openly in favor of having Finland join NATO.

Weeks of coalition bargaining may now lie ahead, with Sipila needing two of the three runner-up parties to form a majority coalition. Traditionally, the second-placed party is awarded the finance minister post, although Soini has hinted he wants the foreign ministry.

The Finns Party, with 17.6 percent of the vote, performed worse than in the last 2011 election, in the middle of the global financial crisis, when it won 19 percent of the vote. The party won over voters with criticism of EU financial rescues for euro members but spooked financial markets.

Soini then refused to join the pro-bailout government coalition. The populist leader has said he now wants power, and some observers say he has softened his tone over Greece.

“It looks like a very good result for the Finns party. It will be hard to disregard them in forming the government,” said Ilkka Ruostetsaari, professor of politics at University of Tampere.

Sipila said he would talk with other party leaders on Monday. 

Many Finns want to avoid the fate of the last four years of political bickering. The government failed to reform health care and local government budgets, and it canceled some spending cuts.

The Center Party was in power for many years after World War II. But Sipila, who favors austerity and trimming welfare, is mostly an unknown quantity. When in opposition, Sipila's party, along with the Finns, voted against the second Greek bailout.

Respected as a successful businessman in the telecoms sector, Sipila, the chief executive of mobile phone network component maker Solitrahe, has the backing of the urban middle class, German publication Deutsche Welle reported. He gained support from rural conservatives, who form the grassroots of his party, in part due to his membership in Word of Peace, part of a Lutheran revival movement.

Sipila's plans for stimulating the economy include a proposal for a new $1.6 billion state fund to invest in start-ups, according to Deutsche Welle. 

Al Jazeera and wire services