EDITORIAL: Protest strongly in evidence at the polls in Finland and elsewhere in the EU

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These elections for the European Parliament, held in Finland and across the European Union on Sunday, proved to be the protest vote that the campaign had suggested was in the offing.
      In Finland the protests manifested themselves in a landslide of votes for the leader of the True Finns Timo Soini, while elsewhere in Europe - for instance in The Netherlands and Austria - EU-sceptic and nationalist extreme groupings enjoyed big gains.
     
The election alliance forged between the True Finns and the Christian Democrats was far and away the winner of this poll.
      By comparison, the members of the current four-party coalition government could claim no more than a defensive victory, and this, too, was reliant solely on the strong showing of a junior partner, the Greens.
      The National Coalition Party and the Centre Party both suffered a defeat, and in the latter case it was a good hiding. Both lost a seat in the European Parliament.
     
In Timo Soini's favour, it should probably be said that his decision to run for the European Parliament caused voter turnout to creep above 40%, even though the final figure fell somewhat short of the 41.1% recorded five years ago.
      Soini offered a channel for popular protest.
      Without his name on the ballot sheet, tens of thousands of voters might as easily have stayed at home.
      But at the same time, Soini collected large numbers of votes from the traditional supporters of the Centre Party, the Social Democrats, and the Left Alliance.
     
The SDP - and indeed the entire left - should already be getting worried about their eroding support.
      Even though we are wading through a recession, the leftist opposition appears incapable of channeling anti-government sentiment behind its own candidates, and instead Soini collected more or less the entire pot.
      Things were different last time around: when Parliamentary elections were held in 1995 as Finland emerged from the last deep economic maelstrom, Paavo Lipponen led the Social Democrats - then also in opposition - to an election victory of record proportions.
     
The result posted by the Centre Party will probably be just good enough to ensure that Matti Vanhanen's chair does not wobble from under him.
      Nevertheless, by the time the next elections to Parliament come around the party's support in the country will have to have grown considerably.
     
The government of the day usually has to pay the bill for recession in the form of dwindling support, regardless of what kind of elections are being fought.
      Elsewhere in the EU, this fate befell governing parties to an even greater degree than was felt in Finland.
     
What effects might the election result have on the domestic political front?
      The Centre Party may once again discover a need to raise its own profile, but in other respects these latest elections will not necessarily have any impact, for instance on cooperation within the government coalition.
     
With the sole exception of the Social Democrats' leading vote-winner Mitro Repo, all those candidates who made it across the line as new or returning MEPs are experienced politicians or experts in international politics.
      Even though each and every party had its share of celebrity candidates on the ballot, the public nevertheless chose professionals for the demanding political positions.
      This is a signal that the voters - or those who turned out - took these elections seriously.
      We should be grateful for this small mercy. Finland will be sending to Europe a solidly professional and experienced team. There is no cause to be embarrassed about them.
     
This election campaign will be remembered for the discussion of immigration that coloured the debate.
      The situation in Finland is now the same as has prevailed in other "old member-states" for at least a decade or more.
      Immigration and the potential problems it brings with it can no longer be suffocated into silence in the political arena.
      In all other respects, the campaign discussions did not throw up anything particularly memorable.
     
Timo Soini will find from the European Parliament benches a good many kindred spirits from other member countries.
      The assembly will have a larger and a louder minority in evidence.
      The forward march of anti-EU parties will probably influence the intellectual climate of Europe along with the effects of the recession.
      A cold wind is blowing in the face of immigration.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 8.6.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Vanhanen: Finland needs immigration despite present economic problems (18.3.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat