Parliamentary elections today in Finland

Today parliamentary elections are held in Finland. It is always fun to read reports in foreign forums, e.g. BBC: Finland votes in tight election Al Jazeera: Voting begins in Finland elections

It it interesting to see how their analyses differ. While BBC seems to think that the main battle is between the Centre party and the Social democrats (SDP) - i.e. who will win and get the post of prime minister - Al Jazeera thinks that the Centre party is safely in the lead and that the battle is between SDP and the National Coalition (conservatives) for the second place, which would increase chances of joining a government coalition. Al Jazeera seems to be closer to what is said in local analyses, and is probably closer to the truth. Also, their comment at the end is quite accurate:

Its [Finland’s] main political parties differ little on substance, with broad agreement on foreign and domestic policies.

I’m in total agreement :) For example the conservatives (currently in opposition) have conceded that the current government (SDP + Centre) have had exactly the same tax policies that they themselves have proposed. Not much room for democratic choice there it seems. And people wonder why especially young people are disenchanted with politics and think that voting doesn’t matter...

I personally have already voted beforehand. I hope that support for one of the mid-sized parties will help to move the main parties in the right direction. A long shot, I know, but if you don’t use your democratic rights you can’t complain afterwards. (And I intend to complain :)

March 18, 2007

Comment on this blog post on identi.ca or privately to mats@sjoberg.fi.