Finland’s political parties have agreed to hold elections to new regional administrations in conjunction with the presidential elections rather than on a separate date.
The first elections will be held in January 2018. The Left Alliance and Christian Democrats had favoured separate elections, but the Finns Party and Social Democrats were opposed to the idea.
Parties’ state funding will be increased by some 4.5 million euros to account for the cost of getting voters to turn out in the new elections. The new regional bodies are to be established as part of Finland’s reform of health and social care, which will see responsibility for the services pass from municipalities to 18 new regional governments.
The smallest of the new administrations will be South Ostrobothnia, with a population of 70,000, while the largest will be Uusimaa, with some 1.6 million residents.