Helsinki - Finland's prime minister-elect Juha Sipila has his work cut out for him to build a majority in parliament and revive the country's moribund economy, observers said Monday.
Sipila, a 53-year-old self-made IT millionaire and newcomer to politics, was the big winner in Sunday's general election when his opposition Centre Party won 49 of 200 seats in parliament.
He now faces "not necessarily long negotiations but difficult ones" to build a majority in parliament, and must decide whether to include the anti-EU Finns Party in his government, Helsinki University political science professor Tom Moring told AFP.
Tradition dictates that the largest party takes the post of prime minister and forms a government with the other largest parties to obtain a parliamentary majority.
The right-wing euro sceptic Finns Party, also in the opposition, pulled off one of the election's biggest surprises by becoming the second-biggest party with 38 seats.
Outgoing Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's conservative National Coalition Party won 37 seats and the Social Democrats 34.
The government negotiations are expected to take several weeks, and Sipila has given no indication of which parties he will solicit.
A former businessman who campaigned heavily on his corporate know-how and promised to run government the way he ran his companies, Sipila will have to show proof of his touted management and negotiating skills to build his team.
The Finns Party's strong showing is a "conundrum" for Sipila, public radio and television YLE wrote in a comment.
Helsinki University political history professor Juhana Aunesluoma told AFP that "all options are open, including the entry of the Finns Party into the government."
Finns Party leader Timo Soini, whose affable style and folksy charisma is largely seen as responsible for his party's success, has made it clear he wants to be in government, eyeing the influential posts of foreign and finance ministers.
Traditionally, the second-biggest party holds the finance portfolio and the third-biggest party takes foreign affairs.
AFP
