The people long for strict economic policy

Finland is a politically unique state. It is a stable democracy with nearly ten parties in its Parliament, which necessitates the involvement of multiple parties in forming the Government.

This system has led to relatively consistent politics, with abrupt policy changes being rare. However, such a change might be on the horizon in the ongoing Government negotiations, where instead of the previous left-leaning majority Government led by Sanna Marin, a program is being formed by political right-wing parties.

In this process, the parties do not populistically pander to the people or promise to distribute tax funds to various beneficiaries. Instead, the negotiators agree that the public finances need to be adjusted by as much as 10 percent of the state's entire budget—and they certainly don't hide it. One could imagine that the support for these parties would be plummeting among the public!

However, that is not the case, as indicated by the party support survey published today. According to the survey, the combined support for the parties involved in the government negotiations has actually seen a significant increase: the support for the two largest parties, the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party, has risen by a total of 1.5 percentage points, or almost four percent, compared to the elections a couple of months ago.

All of this reflects the dissatisfaction that Finns feel towards the left-wing government led by Sanna Marin, which they believe has brought Finland's public finances to the brink of disaster. It also provides assurance to the negotiators that the citizens have confidence in their firm economic approach.

Previous thoughts on the same topic: 
The Guardian misleads its readers
Elections in Finland enlight journalistic views
Reducing taxes, enhancing export and paying the governmental debt